Patricia Mukhim
Each election is getting worse than the last one in terms of money spent. The Lama Gyatso from Tawang who left his life as a monk and became an anti-dam activist confessed recently that he had a strong urge to fight elections because that’s where one can bring change. But he backed out of politics because an MLA election said Gyatso costs nothing less than Rs 10 crore. This is a mind boggling amount for the large majority of us who are unlikely have seen a crore in our safes or our bank accounts. And coming from a monk I would not easily discount what he said. So this brings me to the Tura bye-elections. If an aspirant has to have at least Rs 10 crore for one assembly constituency, how many crore would it cost to get votes from 24 constituencies? And even if elections in Arunachal Pradesh are more expensive than in Meghalaya, might it not be possible that it would cost half the amount which is 24×5 or Rs 120 crore to mop up votes for the Tura by-polls? And where would this money come from?
Now if one were to go by the assets of the two contenders, Ms Dikkanchi Shira is far wealthier as she owns several coal mines and businesses which Conrad Sangma does not. The Congress has 14 + MLAs and 7 MDCs to mobilise votes for their Party candidate. The NPP has only 2 MLAs and about a score MDCs. The MDCs don’t have the financial wherewithal that MLAs have. So if we are looking purely at money as an asset for a candidate then the richer person would win hands down. But does it always work out that way? It is hard to understand voter behaviour.
But whatever be the outcome of the election one thing is for sure. Issues don’t matter during elections. If you lay out a list of what you plan to do for your constituents but lack the moolah it is not going to take you very far. Oratorical skills were good at one time but not anymore. Today politicians are talking to sullen and cynical voters who want to cash in on the windfall immediately because it does not rain money all the time. Election time is like lucky dip time except that you get a lucky number with every dip into the raffle box. Which voter has the time to go back to the MP or MLA and tell him, “Hey you promised us roads, bridges, electricity and jobs; why are we not seeing any of these coming up?” Time was then the angry voter turned bitter and waited her turn for the next election when she would crucify the politician who could not fulfil the electoral promises. Now they know better. Voters don’t care what an MLA/MP does after being elected. So they demand a price for their votes. After being paid they could not care less who does what and whether they continue to live in abysmal conditions. It was abysmal when they voted conscientiously; it will continue to be abysmal now that they have done “paisa wasool.” This is the reality of elections today!
So in the middle of what is increasingly turning out to be a depressing election campaign of name calling and candidates taking pot shots at each other, there comes a legal eagle called Nalin Kohli who represents a party that the Congress love to hate – the BJP. Kohli is otherwise quite long-suffering on national television debates but even he has developed the killer instinct after landing at Tura. The other day Kohli said, “Meghalaya is not a kingdom and Mukul Sangma and his wife Dikkanchi are not its king and queen.” Wow that was quite something man! But isn’t that what every MLA in this country does? Which is to treat the constituents with disdain and treat the constituency like their little kingdom? And not only that! The children of these MLAs/MDCs behave like princes and can shoot and kill anyone they choose to (The Bihar example is right before us). When they are driving past they don’t want to be overtaken by lesser mortals! Indeed it is common to see children of MLAs/ministers, IAS and IPS officers move around in their parents’ vehicles as if they are entitled to that privilege! In the case of Dr Mukul Sangma, since he is the chief minister so Meghalaya is indeed his oyster. Mr Kohli has only reminded us of what we knew all along which is that being an MLA and a minister is not about service to people but about building personal wealth and resources and of using that wealth to retain one’s seat and win over and over again so that wealth multiplies many times over.
So yes, as long as people charge money for their votes the wealthy will continue to win and those with an ideology to serve the state and its people will end up frustrated and probably die of bitterness. Hence it is increasingly clear that democracy as it is being interpreted today – the winning of an election once in five years and cobbling together a majority comprising incongruous partners – is not working for us. But we also have no alternative because no political party has the courage to suggest, much less to implement electoral reforms. And as for the Election Commission is concerned it has failed to check election spending! What happens behind closed rooms is none of the ECI’s business. The ECI did not see or hear anything and elections have been conducted smoothly. That’s it! End of election story and the State Chief Election Officer gets an award for mobilising voters and conducting an incident free election. Hurrah!
We are indeed a country that has perfected the business of ‘pretending’ into such a fine art that we no longer know the difference between a mirage and a reality. Frankly speaking we are a dysfunctional society and the roots of that dysfunction are embedded into our society because politics is too much with us. So what do we do? Where have we failed? Where has the social connection that translates into social capital disappeared? Earlier we would openly discuss in our localities who to vote and why to vote that person. Today because money is at stake we have become secretive and individualistic. Money has killed the social capital and sense of community that tribals claim they still have. In healthy societies people do not live as individuals. They are members of a family, of a neighbourhood of a civic or faith organization and each of these layers of life is nestled in the others to form a varied but coherent whole.
When politicians see that they cannot divide society they will not play the kind of divisive politics they unleash today which is like a good-versus-evil blood sport. In the book ‘Bowling Alone,’ Robert Putnam laments the loss of social capital and the rise of individualism among Americans. Putnam’s study shows that by 2005, 47 % of Americans knew none or just a few of their neighbours by name. He also noted that there was a sharp rise in the number of people who say they have no close friends to confide in. Hence civic life or community life has suffered. Marc J. Dunkelman in his book “The Vanishing Neighbour,” writes that Americans spend less and less time with community members in the neighbourhood even while they spend more time on social media. Dunkelman argues that community membership helps people to bond and also develops their skill at deliberation. In a community, members may have different political opinions but they still have to work for a larger cause within the community. Hence they have to learn to agree to disagree without isolating themselves from the community. When politicians see this cohesion they are unlikely to try and bribe members of a community to sow the seeds of divisive politics. And if people think as a community they think of the larger common good. It is the individualistic thinking that provides politicians a ready- made pond to fish in.
When politics begins to decide our common good then we have lost something precious. And if we allow partisan politics to decide who are friends and enemies are then we are a lost cause. Of course we need politics but if we are going to salvage our social capital then we would have to shrink politics, and nurture the web of social relationships that politics rests within. Dunkelman believes that if we make this cultural shift, we might end up happier. The paradox of life is that if each of us fulfil all our individual desires, we will end up with a society which is not what we want at all.
I am not sure who is winning on the 19th of this month but of this election divides the people of Garo Hills to a point where they cannot be civil with each other, then whoever wins has not really won.