By H. H. Mohrmen
A question was recently posted on the timeline of my Facebook page asking my opinion about the issues that are important for the people in the State in the coming Lok Sabha election? It caught me by surprise for it never crossed my mind to think about this very important issue. I must admit that I don’t have the faintest idea as to what are the important issues that the people and the state should bring to the fore in the coming election. It made me wonder if we really have any concern for the welfare of the area when we exercise our franchise. Do people need to have an issue on which to cast their votes? Or to be precise did we ever vote based on issues during elections in the state?
The state of Meghalaya and the districts in Khasi and Jaintia Hills in particular have in the last fifteen months enjoyed what my friend calls two paid tamashas. In a little over a year the people of Meghalaya had the opportunity to exercise their franchise twice – that is the election to the Legislative Assembly and the election to the two Autonomous District Councils. And before the ink on our forefinger has dried or been erased here we are in the process of engaging in another election – the election to the lower house of the parliament of the country.
The two elections are too recent to forget and what has actually happened during the elections is still very fresh in the minds of the people. What did we learn from the last two recently held elections? Why do people vote or do people really have any issue when they go to the polling station. Do people vote because they want some change to happen or do they vote for the sake of voting and enjoy the revelry associated with elections?
On February 10 while returning from Nartiang I was surprised to see what happened in Jowai when I reached the town that afternoon. I did not realize what happened till I was caught in the traffic jam, and then I remembered that it was the day for scrutinizing the papers of the candidates for the ensuing JHADC election. The entire Iawmusiang area or downtown Jowai was chock-a-bloc with people and it was just a day when the Returning Officer officially declares that all the papers of the candidates are in place and they are now candidates of their respective constituencies. The festive mood was in the air and people young and old, men and women started to dance in the streets of Iawmusiang as if their candidate had already won the election. I wish this is true and all the candidates win, but it was just the beginning of an election. I was perplexed; I couldn’t understand why this happened and was angry because there were guests waiting to meet me and return to Shillong the same day. It is difficult to fathom why candidates bring their people from all over the place just for the scrutiny of their papers. But for the people it was a free trip to Jowai. It was then I realized that the dancing on the streets was the beginning of the month long festival when people don’t have to go to work and at the same time enjoy free food, free booze and free trips to different rallies.
Throughout the campaign period people were not only provided free food, free trips and drinks but they were even paid their daily wages. Voters were paid for attending rallies and hence there was no dearth of people in any rally. So during elections people enjoy to the hilt because this opportunity comes only once in every election and where on earth will you have these opportunities where you have others pay while you have the fun of your life. Apart from paying for the fun, huge amounts of money also changes hands during elections when candidates exchange cash for votes. It is not a secret anymore and people speak openly about this matter as if it is part and parcel of the election campaign. In fact people estimate the winning chances of the candidate by how rich he is compared to the other candidates. In the traffic jam I tried to convince my guests that the people who turn up for the election campaign are not actually actively and consciously participating in the democratic process, but there is the money factor behind it and people are simply dancing to the tune of the candidates and their parties.
This is the trend across the State and things are getting from bad worse. There is no place for a poor person to contest in any election in this country, so if you are poor you cannot even dream of joining in the electoral fray in the near future. For people who wish and hope to see change in this country, it is hope against hope and they are disappointed to say the least because until and unless elections stop becoming a tamasha, money will still play a critical role in any election in this country. Hence no matter how many flying squads we have, it is impossible to check the blatant use of money power during the elections.
People don’t vote on issues here. Apart from money the other factors which decide who people vote for is family relationship. This plays a very important role when voters decide who to vote for during elections. People support a candidate because they belong to the same clan and because they are related to the candidate. And in a tribal culture one is always related to another some way or the other.
The recent trend that was prevalent in the last district council election was when the dorbar shnong, dorbar eleka decided to support a certain candidate. In such cases the dorbar shnong makes sure that all the villagers vote for the dorbar shnong’s candidate and there is no room for dissent. If the village dorbar suspects anyone of having gone against the dorbar’s dictum then the chances of the individual getting to cast his vote is minimal. A candidate in the last MDC election complained against the mass rigging in one of the villages, but the presiding officer replied that there was nothing they could do since the decision to support a particular candidate was taken by the community.
Why is there a huge turnout of voters in the district? Does anyone even ask this question? Or are we happy because there is a huge turn-out? Even a cursory look at the election results is enough to tell us that the village is indulging in mass rigging, because there is almost hundred percent turn-out in that particular station and only less than hundred votes were deliberately left uncast to avoid suspicion of any foul play in the polling station. In my opinion if the votes polled in any polling station cross the 80% mark there is a likelihood of mass rigging in the polling station.
It is also a known fact that in many villages the dorbar shnong decides to support a certain candidate and also decide to make that candidate win. If this trend continues in the ensuing Lok Sabha election it is going to be a bad scene. However, there may be less tamasha in the MP election because there are very few candidates. So voter turn-out is expected to be low but the threat is also lesser if the dorbar shnong decides to use the same technique and rig the election in the village in favour of some candidate. This is one unique election malpractice that is perhaps prevalent only in this area; hence the election commission needs to do something to prevent this from happening.
People here do not vote on issues. They are concerned about their own welfare or they vote for the development of the area. For the masses however, the election is only an opportunity for free-loading and for proving their allegiance to the clan or to the community by making sure that the member of the clan wins.