Gangtok: Pawan Chamling recently broke Jyoti Basu's record to
become India's longest-serving chief minister. On Wednesday, the Sikkim
leader became one of the "longest-speaking", addressing a public meeting
for nearly four hours.
The 67-year-old Chamling was seen sipping
water only once and stood at the lectern without any break during his
address of three hours and 52 minutes at the rally in Pakyong, 30km from
Gangtok.
Such a long speech, in front of over 3,000 people, may
surprise many as leaders try to wrap up their addresses within half an
hour or so.
Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee doesn't generally stretch it
beyond 40 minutes. Her predecessors Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and Basu
would speak for 20-25 minutes at the most.
Chamling, however, has
a history of delivering long speeches. On Tuesday, he had held forth
for almost a similar length of time at another rally in Sikkim's Rongli.
"He
has been doing this for years now," said a senior journalist who has
been covering the Sikkim chief minister since the time he formed the
Sikkim Democratic Party in 1993.
Chamling came to power in December 1994, nearly a quarter-century
ago. Basu was Bengal chief minister for a little over 23 years.
Chamling's
mentor-turned-foe Nar Bahadur Bhandari is believed to have delivered
the longest speech in Sikkim - which reportedly lasted for seven hours.
As
India's representative to the United Nations, V.K. Krishna Menon had
delivered an unprecedented eight-hour speech, defending New Delhi's
stand on Kashmir, on January 23, 1957.
Some socialist leaders
were also known for such feats. Cuban President Fidel Castro spoke for
seven hours, while his next-generation protégé and Venezuela President
Hugo Chavez did so for eight hours.
Those milestones do not muffle Chamling's "speakathon", even though the weather in Sikkim may be much cooler.
"He
(Chamling) doesn't gesture or shout during his speech.... At times, he
shakes his arms with clenched fists to stress a point," said a
journalist.
But what did the Sikkim chief minister talk about for
so long? A major part of the speech revolved around his commitment to
create more jobs in Sikkim.
He also took potshots at the Sikkim
Krantikari Morcha (SKM), the main Opposition party, for promising to
provide jobs to all state youths within 100 days of coming to power. He
took a dig at footballer-turned-politician Bhaichung Bhutia.
"Most
agree his long speeches can become a torture at times. But no one seems
to have been able to convey this to the chief minister," said a source
in Gangtok. According to the source, some listeners betray their
impatience, some walk out for a break and do not return, while others
start having conversations among themselves.
The Telegraph
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