Voting to the 30 member Garo Hills District Council is taking place today amidst huge uncertainties. While the campaign has been low key and a general sense of disillusionment prevails over the performance of the Council, the fact that non-tribals are contesting the polls and also voting for has created a public outrage which political parties are taking in their stride instead of addressing the issue upfront. There have been a series of disruptions to public life in Garo Hills on account of bandh calls to protest the District Council elections. The situation in Garo Hills breeds a sense of despondency about whether anything good can come out of the polls. Indeed, voting for its own sake is a no-win situation. People vote because they expect those who are elected to deliver on the pre-poll promises, whether that be for the state or the council elections. But the fact that peoples’ aspirations are far from being met and that Garo Hills continues to remain in a decrepit state and under the thumb of militants is enough evidence that the elected representatives have failed their people repeatedly.
This election is seen as another exercise that will install a new set of elites who will pretend to run the Council for the next five years bit with no clear-cut objectives and no roadmap in sight. The story is the same with the Khasi and Jaintia Hills District Councils too. Most of the productive time of the councillors is spent in toppling games. The executive councils are changed frequently not because they fail to deliver but because of political manoeuvres. When the EC is formed by a party or parties that are not in sync with those in the State Government, it remains unstable because the State Government does not wish to see an opposition party ruling the Councils. The District Councils are not bound by the 10th Schedule of the Constitution which has put an embargo on floor crossing and switching political sides by state legislators. Somehow the anti-defection law was never passed by the Councils for obvious reasons. They don’t want to lose their flexibility to walk in and out of an EC whenever it suits them. In fact if the Councils are allowed to carry on with their tasks, the anti-defection law is imperative for bringing in sanity among the Councillors and allowing them to concentrate on real issues. As of now the voting public don’t see any perceptible change in the ground situation through the presence of the District Councils. It has become a mere five year rigmarole and people too discuss the same issues without really raising the pitch. This is the unfortunate part because people ultimately are the losers in this zero sum game!