Marking the third anniversary of the UPA II government, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi recently put the ruling coalition in poll mode, warning her party and allies that they have two years to get their act together as UPA-2 can hope to renew its mandate in 2014 only on the basis of performance rather than promises. This is an important reminder not just for the Congress led UPA government at the Centre but also for the State governments irrespective of which political party one may belong to. And mind you, the present generation of voters, they are more intelligent and educated. As such, incumbent governments or those in Opposition should not be under the impression that they can easily fool the voters. Performance not promises ought to be the real test for determining who you vote for. Then the quality of leadership is also very important. Is the person whom you will elect capable of delivering? So perhaps we as citizens should also be in a position to know who has worked for the people and those who have not performed. Off course we should not forget that we should reward consistent hard work and not just those who hurriedly do something on the eve of elections. So you see performance per se should also not be the sole guide but rather citizens should be enlightened enough to judge or measure the kind of performance that our politicians will most probably trumpet about through press releases and extensive public relation campaigns. For instance, laying of a foundation stone for some development project or announcing some ambitious programme is also trumpeted as performance. But all of us are well aware that many of these undertakings can remain incomplete or abandoned halfway. So as enlightened citizens we should be more cautious when it comes to politicians presenting a rosy picture of development taking place.
Coming to the leadership quotient, here too we the people must not judge someone on face value but rather we need to make sure that the person is capable enough to lead. Choosing one’s leader is serious business and this should not be left only to the discretion of party bosses or our village elders/rulers who may try and impose from top. The sad truth about democracy in India or Nagaland is that mostly it is the leaders who have money and muscle power who are ultimately elected to represent the people. Perhaps it’s time to change the rules of the game and start investing in able and honest leaders—those who can inspire trust and confidence among the people. We need leaders who can set the example and be good role model. As Mahatma Gandhi famously said, “We must become the change we want to see”. Leaders must prove themselves through sacrifice not self enrichment and hard work not easy living. The true test of leadership perhaps lies in “walking the talk”. Anyone can speak and make tall promises but how many of our leaders can actually deliver. When that does not happen there is a disconnect. What you are saying and what you are doing are two different things. The test of truth is your action not your words. Our politicians and public leaders when they talk about honesty, Nagaland for Christ or ills of corruption, they appear very sincere. But they are not able to follow through on their words and set an example by their conduct. Do we have honest, competent, committed leaders in our midst? Perhaps we need to make leadership and performance count for more when the time comes for election.
