Sunday, January 19, 2025
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ADC Election: A Second Division League

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BY HH Mohrmen

The Autonomous District Councils are sometimes called the springboard to the Assembly or ladder to the next political hierarchy but now it has also become a place to rehabilitate candidates who were defeated in the last MLA election or even former MLAs themselves. Many former MLAs are now returning to active politics albeit in the Autonomous District Council. The ADCs are therefore no longer just training ground for junior politicians, but even defeated politicians find refuge in the Councils. It has become a place to cool their heels and prepare themselves for the next Assembly election. In spite of that, the way the recent election to the Khasi and Jaiñtia ADC was conducted left much to desire for.

The results of both the Khasi and Jaiñtia hills ADC elections are now out and as expected the voters did not give a clear mandate to any party, in both the Councils. So as usual an Executive Committee of political alliances is the only alternative. And in the absence of the anti-defection law in the Council, horse trading is on the anvil and it will not be a surprise to see Members of both Councils switching sides at the first opportunity. The question on everybody’s mind is how long this EC will last? Or how many ECs will we have during the tenure of the present House?

In the Khasi hills, it is interesting to see that this time around there is mixture of old hand and first timer MDCs elected by the people. Many former MLAs and even former Ministers both from the Indian National Congress and the regional parties were re-elected. This is a good sign that the Council is in good hands. In fact the Council is into an interesting term. Of course there are allegations of money being used to influence voters and in some cases like in the Pynthor Umkhrah constituency, it was reported in the media that supporters of PN Syiem were caught red-handed trying to influence voters by using unfair means. It is also ironic that the culprits were apprehended by the public and not by the enforcement agency. The question that we need to ask is “Where were the enforcement agencies?”

Compared to the last election to the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly, the elections to the two ADCs was quite different especially from the way the model code of conduct was enforced. It can be concluded that the Model Code of Conduct was not even seriously enforced in the two Jaiñtia hills districts. Unlike in the previous elections, there were no flying squads instituted, neither were  there videographers to help the election officers or the respective returning officers conduct a free and fair poll. This is the reason that unlike in the last LA election, there is no report of police or the flying squad apprehending people who carries money beyond the permissible limit during the campaign and voting period.

Instead, in some cases it was the public themselves who apprehended people who bribed voters, filed an FIR against the alleged culprit and shared the videos on social media platforms. A case in point is the incident which happened in Ummulong, in which it was alleged that even a former lawman was involved in the act. The other question is if no person was captured carrying money beyond the permissible limit, can we then conclude that money did not exchange hands during this  ADC election? Those who run the election need to ask this hard and difficult question, if their goal is to run a free and fair election and to help improve democratic process in the state. Not only money power influenced the election this year, but people also profusely used muscle power during the election.

Use of muscle power began when leaders of the Shnong, the Raids and in some case even Elekas were found supporting a particular candidate. The respective Shnong, Raid or Eleka once they were able to get the support of the majority of the leaders in their respective organisations came up with a resolution and made it public through media report that the Shnong, Raid or Eleka is unanimously supporting a certain candidate. Even if the organisation is unanimous in their decision which is of course impossible, the question is whether it is legal for institutions like the Dorbar Shnong, Dorbar Raid or the Eleka to involve in such activity? What does the Jaintia Hills Village Administration Act say about this?

 The other question is also how the Dorbar Shnong, Dorbar Raid or Eleka enforce its decision even on those who are supporting candidates other than those supported by the Shnong or the Raid? Isn’t this a case of violation of the very essence of the right of a person to vote according to conscience? In Jaiñtia hills there were many such reports which appeared in the press and there were also reports of the Shnong or the Raid taking those who opposed its diktat to task.

Of course the office of the State Chief Election Officer and the Returning Officers in the different districts need to be congratulated for running the election smoothly, but can we say that the election was free and fair? The other question is, if the government is really serious is its effort to conduct free and fair elections then it should take action against those Shnong, Raid and Eleka which made public their support of certain candidates by taking cognisance from media reports which appeared in the different media platforms. Again if the government think that action can only be taken if and only when formal complaint is made, then it will only embolden those who engage in illegal activities in the future. The point is that until and unless we have clean elections, the election we have will also not be fair and the outcome of such election is that we will get the kind of leaders we deserve. Such a process will not usher in real democracy, but will only help bring a pseudo-democracy.

The people are expecting the outcome of the inquiry about the video which is doing the rounds in the different social media platforms which was also widely reported in the press, of a minister in the government who abused his power and position in the polling station in his village while the election process was still going on. The Deputy Commissioner West Jaiñtia hills has announced that an inquiry would be conducted on the video which shows the Minister of the NPP-led government in the state playing the role of a police personnel to ask the people to make a queue and instructed that only those who supported his candidate should stand in the queue. If the Minister has to direct the voters in the polling station to stand in a queue, then where are the security personal appointed in that polling station?

A minster who had won the election several times cannot feign ignorance and claim that he is not aware of the rules that he cannot be within a few metres radius from the polling station. This is obviously a case of abuse of power and violation of the election rules and the government needs to act against such transgression. The people will wait and see what the CEO or the Returning Officer do and what action they take in this high profile case in which the minister was allegedly involved in violation of election rules? Will they just watch and see and in few months time forget about the inquiry and let go?

The pertinent question is what kind of message do we want to send to the public at large? If the goal is to conduct a free and fair election then the government must act, but if the government does not consider the ADC elections as serious as the LA or MP election, then it is also safe to conclude that the ADC elections are inferior as the ADC is but a second division league.

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