It was very interesting to read the article “Rio-Alemtemshi: New Politics?” written by Along Longkumar and published on 5th February in the Morung Express. Yes indeed, the two men at the helm of affairs presently seem to be Neiphiu Rio and Alemtemshi Jamir. All eyes are on them and all wait eagerly to see the outcome of their new speculated endeavors.
Neiphiu and Alem are two persons who have been walking in the corridors of power here in Kohima for more than 25 years now. And both of them have already achieved in their respective careers what many of their counterparts can only dream of. For any state politician, the ultimate aim is to one day sit in the CM’s chair. Likewise, for any IAS officer, the ultimate aim is to sit in the Chief Secretary’s chair one day. Therefore, both Neiphiu and Alem have already occupied and enjoyed the highest, most prestigious and glamorous position that their respective careers could offer them. And as such, it is no surprising that, as they intend to enter a new phase in their public life and in their service to the people, they have once again captured the attention and imagination of the people.
Neiphiu Rio, son of Late Guolhoulie Rio, has undoubtedly become the biggest name in Nagaland state politics in recent times. And he has already proven his mettle in more than one situation. It was during the chief ministership of SC Jamir (1993 – 2003) that Neiphiu slowly rose to become the No.2 in the hierarchy of power in Nagaland state politics. And by the time the Jamir era came to an end in 2003. Neiphiu’s moment of history had come. It was in this way, more than 10 years ago, that Rio’s moment of truth came when he deserted the Congress party and came within the fold of the ‘Cock Party’ with chief ministerial ambition. And as the events unfolded, the gods certainly seemed to be on his side as he not only became the Chief Minister but his power and influence seemed to grow with every passing year. The result of all these was that the Cock Party led by Rio was able to inflict even more humiliating defeats upon the Congress in 2008 and 2013. Now news is doing the rounds that Rio may contest the upcoming Lok Sahba elections. If this happens, another big question crops up – who will be the next to occupy the Chief Minister’s chair?
The Nagas will grade the reign of Neiphiu according to their own assessments and observations. And as such, the conclusions and judgments would be different from person to person. For me, some of the notable features of the reign of Rio would be instating the Governor’s Award for excellence in arts, music and literature in 2003, internationalizing the Hornbill Festival, Service Regularization of more than 4000 graduate and primary teachers in the school education department, passing the Superannuation Bill and of course, launching the Naga People’s Party in the neighboring states of Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh.
Neiphiu still seems to be strong and invincible physically as well as mentally. Therefore, if he does contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections and becomes an MP, my only hope is that he turns out to be someone with a recognizable voice in the Indian parliament. I say this because none of the Naga MPs have had any recognition at the national level thus far.
In his article, Along Longkumar describes Alemtemshi as ‘a cut above the rest’ – which is indeed a befitting tribute to the man. Whenever we talk about IAS or IAS officers in Nagaland, the first person that comes to the minds of most of us is Sir.Alem followed by his lady wife Banuo. Like Along, I also do not know Sir.Alemtemshi personally. But I guess I do have something which I can say about him. This story goes like this: In the year 1996 when I was waiting for my PU results to be out, I worked for six months on contract basis as an LDA in the Nagaland Civil Secretariat. I was attached to the office of Colney who was then the additional Chief Secretary of Nagaland. During this short period of time, I saw Sir. Alem on a couple of occasions and he made an instant impression on me. He was always smartly dressed as he roamed around talking fluent English. In the secretariat complex, I usually saw him roaming without any bodyguards and whenever I greeted him, he always replied politely.
I was in the secretariat only for few months as I did not renew my six-month contract. However, since my experience there more than 15 years ago, I have followed Sir. Alem closely in the newspapers and other medias. And like many other Nagas, his latest move to have caught my attention and interest is his voluntary retirement from service. Because even if he retires from service, it may certainly not mean that Sir Alemtemshi is going to spend the rest of his life reading newspapers in his verandah……
