Chance victory a lesson for chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan govt

BHOPAL: At the recently-concluded Global Investors Summit in Indore, a very smart presentation was made by the then chief secretary of Madhya Pradesh detailing out the state's energetic march along various avenues of development. The only "avenue" that was left largely untouched, was law and order. After Monday's escape-and-encounter, that omission in Indore appears almost prophetic.
The state administration in general and chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan in particular should be rather beholden to a handful of villagers and the police force (especially the ATS) for turning a national embarrassment into an occasion for chest-thumping. If the eight SIMI terrorists had got onto a train, Chouhan's worst nightmare would have come true. If they had not stuck together, went their separate ways and just melted into the post-Diwali milieu, the state administration would have lost its sleep for a long, long time. If locals at Acharpura area had not WhatsApp-ed (yes WhatsApp-ed) photos of whom they thought were 'robbers', then the headcount of fallen officers would not have ended with the ADG, Prisons.
That's how close things came to getting MP labeled as 'BIMARU' when it comes to law and order, and Chouhan as 'Mr Butterfingers.' Cut and dry! The encounter saved the day for Madhya Pradesh. Social media may go wild questioning, probing and trolling it, TV studios may get their post-Diwali rush of blood, politicians may go on hyperventilating and columnists making a quick five-bucks-a-word, the fact remains that Monday's encounter makes the 'Heart of Incredible India' look strong, and not faint. From that Messrs Chouhan can take much comfort. Not too much, but. Any triumph that rests on chance, unknowns and external factors is not really a victory, but a lesson...or even a warning. Bending over backwards to please voters with populist schemes and its political masters in Delhi with implementation of Central schemes on a war-footing, the Chouhan government has missed the law and order story altogether.
A high-security prison in a state capital that falls to a tongue-cleaner, bedsheets and thalis? Even Bollywood jailbreaks look more difficult.
Just letting a few heads roll is no solution. The key to prevention of what happened on Monday lies in making systemic changes, acquiring modern law enforcement equipment, better training of personnel and giving them the wherewithal to fight back. To be blunt, invest in the police force, invest in modernizing prisons, invest in making MP not just a welfare state, but also a safe state. A starting point can be the state capital, Bhopal. After all, next time they might actually manage to board a train.