[ Bengia Ajum ]
In the recently concluded assembly session, two ministers – Health Minister Alo Libang and Education Minister Taba Tedir – faced a barrage of questions from both the opposition as well as the ruling party MLAs. Both the ministries are very crucial and therefore it was quite natural that both ministers had to face a lot of questions. Apart from it, the assembly session, as expected, went off ‘peacefully’ without any noise. With people holding rallies and organising a march toward Delhi, alleging corruption, many expected fireworks during the assembly session. But no such thing happened.
These days, one hardly witnesses feisty debates and discussions in the state assembly, which is part and parcel of a functioning democracy. I joined the state media in 2009 and had the opportunity to witness several assembly sessions since then. In the past, there were leaders like late Jarbom Gamlin, late Setong Sena, and late Tako Dabi, who were very powerful speakers. When Nabam Tuki became chief minister, the then opposition leader and former Roing MLA Laeta Umbrey regularly took on the Congress government on the floor of the assembly. The assembly session used to be very interesting as there was constant banter between Tuki and Umbrey.
Umbrey was one rare Arunachali politician who used to do proper homework before raising any issue on the floor of the House. Apart from being a good orator, Umbrey had a strong grasp of the subject. He regularly used to tear apart the Congress government in the assembly. Tuki and he always used to fiercely engage in debates. The assembly was interesting to attend those days.
Then there were leaders like Tanga Byaling and the late Tako Dabi, who used to make assembly sessions interesting with their witty jokes and speaking in a highly accented Arunachali Hindi. These days, because of the BJP and RSS influence, the majority of the MLAs, especially those belonging to the BJP, speak in such good Hindi that sometimes we get confused about whether we are attending Arunachal or UP assembly sessions. The tribal touch, including our uniquely spoken Hindi, with mother tongue influence, is getting lost. In the present assembly, it is Koloriang MLA Lokam Tassar who occasionally gives an opportunity to laugh with his antics in the assembly.
Congress MLA Ninong Ering did take up several issues in the just concluded assembly and asked some uncomfortable questions to the ruling party. However, there is no denying that the charm of attending assembly sessions is gone. With the BJP in brute majority and supported by NDA ally NPP, the majority of people speaking in the House praise the government.
“Under the leadership of young and dynamic Chief Minister Pema Khandu” and “under the able guidance of honourable Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein” are sentences that you have to hear the whole day. Sometimes I feel even the CM and the DCM must be bored of being buttered so much by their MLAs.
It is not that there are no good speakers in the House. There are good orators like Speaker PD Sona, NPP MLA Mutchu Mithi, Congress MLA Ninong Ering, etc. Then there is Itanagar MLA Techi Kaso, who is also known to speak well. But as the 2024 election gets closer, everyone wants to be in the good books of the CM and the DCM. This is perhaps why the MLAs mostly refrain from speaking in the assembly. Increasingly, the assembly sessions are becoming a mere formality.
