Aizawl: Mizoram has been witnessing nationally-acclaimed low-profile and inexpensive assembly elections since December 2008, thanks to the Mizoram Presbyterian Church-sponsored election watchdog, Mizoram People’s Forum (MPC).
The trend has continued in the elections to the Lok Sabha, municipal, local and village councils.
With Assembly elections just round the corner, the MPC is gearing up to keep a watchful eye on the political parties to make sure none of the candidate steps out of the guidelines it has laid down.
This time, the Church-owned watchdog wants to interfere even in the elections manifestoes, to keep the political parties from making tall promises.
“No political party should promise what seems impossible to achieve. The political parties or candidates should promise only what they would be able to fulfill,” is one of the significant points of a 27-point Memorandum of Understanding signed by the MPF and political parties of Mizoram.
Forget about road shows, door-to-door campaigns, separate public rallies and throwing feasts which the MPF had already prohibited in the last state assembly polls, the political parties in Mizoram have a new set of ‘don’ts’ imposed on them by the powerful Church for the 2013 polls.
Supporters of candidates can no longer use caps, T shirts, badges and stickers bearing party symbols, and party flags during election campaigning.
The number of flags, banners and posters that a candidate can use is restricted based on the number of local council members or village council members in each locality or village: three banners, 30 flags and 20 posters for an area that has more than seven local/village councils; three banners, 30 flags and 15 posters for an area having more than five but less than seven local/village councils; and three banners, 10 flags and ten posters for an area having less than three local/village councils.
And no election banner should be larger than 18×4 feet, the MPF said.
Candidates are strictly prohibited from arranging transportation for their supporters, distributing materials to voters or throwing community feast, tea and snacks. Cash-for-vote is a strict no-no.
However, the prohibition of organising feast does not include dinners organised for a small circle of block or unit level political workers. While imposing strict restrictions on the political parties and their candidates, the MPF has also urged all the voters to help achieve clean and fair elections.
“The voters have high responsibility to have clean, fair and inexpensive elections. Organisations and individuals should not expect any benefits in the form of money or materials from the candidates,” a statement of MPF said today.
The Church body also asked the political parties to nominate only uncorrupt and clean persons, free from drugs and alcohol and other anti-social activities as their candidates.
Representatives of all political parties, ruling Congress, opposition Mizo National Front, Mizoram People’s Conference, Zoram Nationalist Party and Bharatiya Janata Party signed the terms of agreement.
The MPF will keep a vigilant eye on each candidate to ensure that the guidelines are strictly adhered to. With the powerful influence the Church wields on the people of Mizoram where about 98 per cent are Christians, no candidate dares to defy the Church diktats.
The MPF’s initiatives had received overwhelming response from the public in the previous elections, and even acclaim from the Election Commission of India.
“Banning door-to-door campaigns, which the churches have effectively done in Mizoram, is one of the most effective ways of stopping corruption in the poll process,” Chief Election Commissioner S Y Quraishi had once said.
According to him, electoral corruption creeps in from door-to-door campaigning. (UNI)