In a world of ji sarkar the Chief Election Commissioner of India, James Michael Lyngdoh, stands tall as a man of principle and integrity.
Let's face it: The majority of Indian bureaucrats have not always endeared themselves to the public at large. Machiavellian or will-o-the wisp — ambitious and scheming or a ‘yes-minister’ bowing down to the current political wind — they certainly have no fan clubs.

So, when along comes someone who believes in discharging his duty strictly by the book, breaks no rules for anybody and, is not bothered about political pressures, he acquires an aura. Someone like the present Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) of India, James Michael Lyngdoh.
Those who know the 62-year-old Lyngdoh will have you know that he is not the exception to the rule; he is the rule. He is what Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers are expected to be.
YOUNG & RESTLESS Back in his home state, Meghalaya, there are not many surprised eyebrows at the way Lyngdoh has handled his career. The signs were there from the very beginning. At the very outset, Lyngdoh should have taken the surname of his late mother Ivy Laloo, the well-known social worker, considering the Khasis follow a matrilineal pattern.
But the Lyngdoh siblings are well, Lyngdoh after their father, a highly respected Meghalaya judge, marking a departure from the norm.
Schooled by the Irish brothers at St Edmunds, Shillong, Lyngdoh made it to the IAS when he was only 22 years old and that too, in the general category. From the very outset, his integrity and uprightness were unquestionable.
In his cadre state Bihar, his face-off with the then chief minister, Kedarnath Pandey is legendary. As everybody knows by now, Lyngdoh refused to implement some ‘objectionable’ orders and went on leave instead. When he returned, Pandey was gone. Poetic justice?
STANDING TALL Lyngdoh turning down the post of cabinet secretary during former prime minister H D Deve Gowda’s tenure, as it would have meant superseding his senior colleague, was again very much in character. So is his taking on the Central Government on the issue of holding the Gujarat polls. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) juggernaut in Gujarat seems to have run into an insurmountable hurdle, leading to some very unparliamentary comments on Lyngdoh, even bringing his religion into the picture. Unlike his predecessors — T N Seshan and M S Gill — the CEC has turned the focus not on the individual but the office. Lyngdoh has succeeded in shunning the limelight. An acknowledgement made by former election commissioner, G V G Krishnamurthy: “His quiet style is much suited for the job which involves collective decision-making. Lyngdoh is a great team man.”
HOME TRUTHS The CEC is also known for his poker-face no-expression that gives nothing away, leading some disgruntled elements to uncharitably remark that he brings to mind android characters from an sci-fi film.

Those who know him closely however, know the man behind the inscrutable public persona. W L Lyngdoh, the CEC’s cousin and a senior IAS officer in Meghalaya, says, “James has always been an upright person, a man of few words, very straightforward, very disciplined and a stickler for rules.
But he is also a very humorous person — in fact, quite a jolly person. Quite cool and mild. When we were kids he would insist on playing with me and my friends.” And of course he absolutely loves dogs — and is reported to have asked his staff to arrange for a good photographer to take pictures of him with his ‘bachchas’.
THE PROUD KHASI So then is the CEC crossing his brief, as some believe? “I don’t think so,” replies his cousin firmly, “he (James) is incapable of ever dictating improper terms.
To live by the rule is his way of life.” And he echoes the CEC’s sister Cong Dew when he says, “We are very proud of him, the whole Khasi community and Meghalaya are very proud of him.” And as for the man in question, he wants no media attention. As he says the job is not about an individual, the election commission is an institution.
All we can say is Khublei Bah Lyngdoh , thank you and God bless in Khasi.
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