By H H Mohrmen
The State Assembly election is barely nine months away and in different parts of the state seat arrangements are being made and in some constituencies new contenders have started to emerge to add to the existing list of candidates. In some places, even if the referee is yet to blow his whistle, the game has already begun as the constituency is already in the election mode and the party starts early this year for the voters in the area. But the bigger issue is that in spite of the fact that Meghalaya has attained statehood a good four decades ago, it will be interesting to see how or who people vote for. Do they vote on issues? Or do the voters even think beyond the election tamasha?
The tribal that we are, kinship is deeply rooted among us, so, in spite of anything else, the first reason that people vote for a certain candidate is because he is our kith and kin and even if he happens to be a distant relative, the election makes the relationship closer. Therefore ‘(congregation of family members from the mother’s and father’s side) is the first and the primary and task of any contender in the election. Then the next reason why people support a certain candidate is because he is a good person and it means a whole lot of things. It could be one who is accessible or he is seen regularly visiting all the bereaved families in the constituency. Now it looks like visiting the bereaved family is part of the job description of all public representatives and people also take pride when the politicians visit the family during their bereavements.
This is obvious when the family decides to publish their gratitude in the media for which they will always make sure to mention the names of all those public figures that came to visit them during their time of trials and tribulations. Even if the leader has not taken part in Assembly debate is and not shown any leadership acumen, the mere fact that he is a good person qualifies him to be a good MLA candidate.
Then being member of the same church or religious group, or member of the same village or Raid is another basis by which people decide to support a candidate, so the bigger the church or faith group or village and raid that one belongs to the better will be one’s chances of winning the election. In such cases we experience how the Dorbar Shnong or Raid abuse their power and even use unfair means like threats, intimidation and proxy voting to make sure that the candidate they support wins. In every case where Dorbar Shnong or Raid openly declare to support a certain candidate there will always be cases of denying the rights of the minority in the area.
Then there is another set of people who contest the election based on the fact that they can build roads and even playgrounds for the communities This is the main reason why we have lots of contractors and businessmen joining the fray and winning the elections. Many of the contractors join politics and subsequently win the elections because they have earth-movers to flatten up football grounds and till the soil in villages and own tankers to supply water to the villagers especially when they have special church programs. Candidates win also because can cater to the needs of the constituents during times of joy and sorrows.
There are candidates who have contested and won the elections simply by distributing plastic chairs, utensils and other paraphernalia to the voters and the community. But the new trends of candidates that we have now are people who claim to be supported by big money bags in the state. These candidates brag about their being candidates set by certain big shots in the state, not realising that they demean themselves to being mere puppets or stooges of the big bosses who sponsor their election. The voters on the other hand take this as an opportunity to mint money and enjoy the free supply of booze and money. Already the ‘bamdoh lama’ picnicking under or with the flag (as the people in Jowai call it) has begun. The youths are the first targets of the party workers and election time is when they are introduced to bad habit.
Elections in the state revolve around the above factors and voters seldom raise any question even about issue(s) close to their heart. We have never asked the incumbent government to give us a report card of their achievements in the last five years. We have not even dared to use RTI to ask for information on how the MLAs use their respective MLA Local Area Development scheme. In short, the public in spite of whinging and whining in private are becoming unwilling-accomplices and indirectly consent with the wrongdoing that is happening by maintaining a stoic silence.
It is because of how we elect our MLAs (since the creation of the separate state till today) that we have a government which underperforms and the government we deserve. Our government does not have any policy on health care, hence our Health Centres, PHCs and CHCs are being run with very few doctors, inactive laboratories, X-rays and even the supply of medicines is not sufficient. The government does not have a policy on agriculture hence our farmers are left in a lurch. The government does not have a policy on education. Hence our schools (those in the village in particular) and our education system as a whole continues to be in shambles. The future of thousands of youths is uncertain because the state has failed to come up with a policy to create employment. What more can one say about a state which even after more than four decades of existence does not even have a proper demarcation of its border with the neighbouring state.
The election in Meghalaya has never been about issues; be it of state or national importance. It is not about the development of the state either; the election is more about the personality of the candidate, the religion he follows or the shnong/raid where he comes from and other factors which have nothing to do with politics or the development of the state. Once in every five years the parties come up with a colourful and flashy manifesto, but some candidates do not even use it during elections. It is no surprise then that it is forgotten the moment it is released. On the pretext that the election always produces a fractured mandate, the party’s manifesto becomes redundant is the common refrain. In the post election scenario; generally no party wins the single largest majority, hence producing a manifesto becomes a mere ritual or eyewash that party indulges in during election.
Why talk about manifesto when the parties do not even have an ideology anymore. This is more pertinent with regards to the regional parties. What ideology or ideologies do the many regional parties that we have, represent? There was time when the United Democratic Party was called Congress B, but this time around people have started calling the National People’s Party (NPP) the B version of BJP because of the unconditional support the party gave to the NDA government both at the national and the state level.
Or maybe the regional parties have taken a cue from the national parties, where politics of convenience is the name of the game. The example is the BJP which camouflages its core issue and implements beef ban where the party is in power while remaining silent on the issue where they are yet to win the election.
The other worrying trend in the state politics is the emergence of dynasties. If everything goes as they plan, three power centres will come up in the state after the election. Meghalaya already has two Sangma dynasties in Garo hills and after the 2018 election; another dynasty will surface and that is the D dynasty in the Jaintia and Ri Bhoi district. So is this anymore about democracy? Will we allow this to carry on?
The people of Meghalaya have a tough time ahead and the 2018 election will decide on the future of the state in the next half century. The onus is on the voters to decide which way they want to go. Or rather how or who they vote for in the ensuing election?