Normally when elections are announced there is excitement in the air. People who are disillusioned by their sitting MPs and MLAs feel they have an opportunity to vote them out and usher in change. They begin to discuss issues from the local to the state to the national. Political party workers gear themselves for the month long campaign and keep every other thing on hold. But this time around things seem to have arrived at a plateau. There have been far too many elections in Meghalaya since 2018. The recently held elections to the two autonomous district councils of Khasi and Jaintia Hills were very low key especially in the urban areas. People seemed to have reached a point of election fatigue. The election wave much spoken about in the past and which determines which way the voters would go is missing this time. Election waves usually revolve around issues that are closest to the hearts of voters such as corruption in high places as happened during the UPA regime. At that particular juncture in 2014 voters not only desired to punish the corrupt but also hoped that the next government would do a clean- up job. In 2014 that was what catapulted the BJP and Narendra Modi to power. The youth were hopeful that Modi and his government would generate employment and support native entrepreneurships and desi start-ups. Somehow things did not add up. And now no less an economist that the Nobel Prize winning Paul Krugman has warned that India could end up with huge mass unemployment if it does not grow its manufacturing sector.
Indeed, manufacture is the only way forward and for that to happen the market has to be given free rein because it is not government but the market that creates employment. Governments are there to regulate the markets so that they do not turn into runaway sharks. Krugman warns of Artificial Intelligence and its ability to replace humans which in turn could lead to further job losses. The economy has no doubt slowed down after demonetization and the poor implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime. This sluggish growth is palpable in the market. The fact that most transactions are now cashless has also reduced cash in hand for candidates fighting elections. There is stricter vigilance by the Election Commission on cash changing hands during this campaign period. Without the feasting that usually marks election campaigns, the enthusiasm is bound to flag and voters are listless. As it is Lok Sabha elections are not as exciting as the assembly elections. All this has added to a somber pre-election ambience.