By H.H.Mohrmen
As we take a break and reflect on the outcome of the last election, one can’t help but think of those incidents which occurred during the election period. I hope I was not the only one who was very optimistic that the 2013 election would be different and changes could be expected. The election commission too was quick to give people the impression that this will be a cleaner election and once the Model Code of Conduct come into operation; one could expect that there will be a level playing field for everyone. No sooner than the election was declared, it was back to square one and the hope and expectation of getting a fairer and cleaner election was short lived.
The moment the MCC comes into operation, one can only hope that the code of conduct will be implemented in letter and spirit but that does not happen. What is the MCC for? The main objective of the MCC is to provide a level playing field for all the candidates contesting in the election. Where is the level playing field that the MCC is supposed to provide to candidates? MCC specifically mentioned that government building or property cannot be used for election campaign. The question is how can Sonia Gandhi use the Kiang Nangbah Government College Play ground which is a government college to campaign for the Congress candidates? Did the Congress pay for using the play ground?
Every District Election Office started the election by giving people hope that this election will be different, numbers of so called flying squads were shared with the people through the media. It was announced that different kinds of election observers and micro observers were deputed, different kinds of video surveillance were appointed and new way of accounts keeping was initiated. Candidates too diligently made their declaration on the affidavit and even telephone numbers of the general observers were shared with the people. But the question is did it really help bring down the expenditure of the candidates, or did it help put to a stop the use of money and muscle power in the last election?
After the result was declared, I was standing outside the DC’s office in Jowai basking in the spring sun and one candidate was standing beside me basking in the glory of his win. The newly elected MLA murmured in my ear and said that he estimated that his opponent (who lost in the election) had spent more than ten crore in the election. What he didn’t say is how much does it take to win the election? Or how much did he spend to win the election? The election machinery has failed once again in controlling the using of money power by candidates and their supporters in the last election; the evidence is obvious for everybody to see every losing candidate blamed money power for their lost.
Apart from the use of money power, there is the use of muscle power too. The case in point is the election in the Sutnga Saipung constituency; there were reports in the press almost on a regular basis that there were cases of threat and intimidation and even cases of manhandling of people who do not obey the dictates of the traditional institutions. The traditional institutions did came out publicly to support a candidate and this was corroborated by a person no less than the MP that there was indeed a blanket dictate by the traditional institutions in the area that all the people in the elaka should vote for a certain candidate only. I am not sure if by making the statement our MP is also conceding the action made by the traditional institutions and hence did not even made an effort to get the Congress candidate; his classmate more than eight votes from his village. If a person no less than our honourable MP is endorsing this kind of action then in the future only candidate support by the traditional institution will win the election.
The case of traditional institution which includes the dalois, the syiems, the rangbah shnongs and the wahidars openly supporting a candidate; is a dangerous trend. It is very natural that there will be a dissent voice among the people in the area be it the village, the hima or the elaka; so the right of the minority needs to be protected, it is here where the election commission is expected to act. Is this not a case of the traditional institutions abusing its power? In the last election there were many traditional heads particularly the headman who openly canvassed for their respective candidates and in many cases they issued dictates to the people to vote for his candidate, how sure are we that there is no dissenting voice in the area? And is it not true that the right of the minority to vote was denied by the majority. Yet, we still want to empower the traditional institutions are we? I am not saying that all traditional institutions are involving in these kind activities; but quite many of them did support certain candidate openly or secretly and pressure the residents of the area to toe their line. This happened in many villages in Jaintia hills and the district council which is the custodian of culture and tradition is not doing anything.
During the election candidates and in some cases their supporters made many complaints to the different DEOs office but the question is what happened to the complaints? Had they been swept under the carpet now? There were also reports of money confiscated by the police from certain individuals, the question that begs the answer is what happened to the money confiscated? In the last By-election to the Umroi Constituency too, some money was confiscated from certain individuals but what happened to the money or what is the status of the case now? With regards to the affidavit, did the candidate make all necessary declaration in one’s affidavit? The moment the result was announced, elected MLAs were bedecked with golden necklaces and one wonders if those were declared in the sworn affidavit.
The irony is when government officials from West Jaintia hills posted in the other district of the State were denied the right to exercise their franchise. The excuse given by the DEO was that the application arrived very late. The DC needs to be reminded that with the help of a simple barcode one can now track online the movement of one’s letter or parcel on an hourly basis, so nobody can fool anybody anymore. What is the need for the Election Commission spending crores of rupees in advertisement to call people turn up to vote, when the same people who were send to canvass people to exercise their right were denied their own right to vote.
On a lighter side, Social Media Network is catching up with the election euphoria, people use the network to canvass for their candidates and it comes for free. Young people are also talented now that they use the Social Media network to share videos and music they composed to canvass for their candidates. The most interesting of them all is when a PSY Gangnam’s famous video of Gangnam style was adapted by supporters of one independent candidate of Khliehriat constituency to canvass for their candidate, one only need to see the video (and of course understand little bit of Pnar) to appreciate the talent of those who adapted the video.
The election is over now and as usual contesting and electioneering is still an expensive proposition. Until and unless there is change in this respect, money will still remain the ‘winability’ factor and only candidates with big bank balance will contest in the election.