By H.H. Mohrmen
As the election to the State Assembly approaches, apart from the usual defection of politicians from one party to another, new entrants have started to announce their candidature to the respective constituencies. No wonder news space both in the print and electronic media outlet is replete with election related stories. Stories are either about new candidates joining the fray or new parties launched to contest the ensuing state assembly elections or the usual story of politicians switching sides. But the common denomination in all the stories that are being published is the financial worth of the candidates. The general assumption is that any new candidate, particularly a new candidate one is either a rich person himself or that he has the backing of somebody who is rich.
Only rich candidates can contest the election
I call this a rich man’s narrative. Wherever there is a discussion about the prospective candidate, the first question that people ask is how much money does the candidate have or how big his bank balance is. And if he is not rich, then the next question is whether he has the backing of wealthy people. This is a rich man’s narrative precisely because this is the narrative that those who want to control the government peddle. Even if this is not true, they still want people to believe it because that is the only way they will be able to control the government and the state. In fact, I personally have never received any money to vote for any candidate during elections. I have also asked many of my friends if they had ever been paid money during the election and the answer is ‘no.’ The pertinent question then is who takes money during the elections then? My estimation is there is very small percentage of people who are literarily being paid to vote for a particular candidate during elections. So, the next question is why is it said that only rich people can contest the elections.
Ways how money is being used during elections
Large chunks of money are being spent in organizing campaigns and rallies but there are also other ways how money changes hands during elections. Rich candidates buy their way to success during election by extending monetary support to the Dorbar Chnong for the locality’s projects or even churches and other religious organizations. Yes even religious organizations, for they too have schools, hospitals to run or even a church building to complete. Technically, the leaders may not asked favours for their personal gains, but on behalf of the church, the shnong or the organization they are affiliated to. Yet it is still a favour they are asking from the candidates during the elections. Again, this may not comprise a large part of expenditure during election to decide which candidate wins the election.
Political Parties and “Winnability” factors
Whenever they are asked about the factors on which they select the candidates to contest from the party ticket, the standard answer of the leaders of political parties is the candidate’s “winnability” factor. On a closer look, this does not have to do with the person’s educational qualification, neither is it about his or her experience in public service or the candidate’s character, but “winnability” basically means how much money the person has. Political parties are the first one to use money as a yardstick to decide the potential of the candidate to win.
Common people are
singing the same tune
Sadly, we are all falling for the ‘rich people narrative’ and almost everybody believes that election is an expensive proposition and only those with extra cash to burn can indulge in. The rich section of the population seems to be winning this psychological battle, where even common people of the state are also singing the same tune now. Like a caged parrot they keep on repeating the same propaganda which only benefits the rich. This is what they want us to believe and in fact not surprisingly, this is how propaganda is spread and ingrained in the human psyche.
Writers and thinkers
are falling for it
Even writers and thinkers are beginning to sing the same tune and they have stopped looking for alternative narratives. We have not done studies or even exercised our minds to study if this is really true? We have not even conducted a simple survey to find out if money is really everything during elections? Is money really everything during elections? Maybe the reason is because we don’t have psephologists who study elections in the state, but the question that begs the answer is how much is election in the state being influenced by money?
Is There no more honesty amongst humans?
Considering the popularity of this narrative in the state today, the question that one could ask is where have all the good people gone? If the narrative is true, are there no good and noble people anymore in the state? Have all the people in the state succumbed to greed and selfishness and are willing to sell their souls for a dime during election? This is the question that we – ‘all the right thinking people’ in the state need to ask ourselves.
The good in every
human soul
Every religion or every culture in the world teaches that there is good in every human soul. Or that the core of human is good and noble. Yes, in spite of the negativity that is happening in the world, yet there is goodness in every human soul. In fact, humans by nature are good and that is what makes the world go round. The trust that we have in the pilot who pilots the aircraft despite the fact that we do not know the person is the kind of trust that helps make the world go round. The trust that human are generally good by nature is what makes the world as it is now. It also helps connect people between nations and races despite the differences they have. This is what we should bank on to bring back some decency in our electoral process and ultimately have a good government.
Between the devil
and deep sea
How far is it true that money is the major factor which contribute to the candidate’s winning the election? Is it true that we do not ask the candidate’s credentials, his/her educational qualifications, experience in public life or his/her character and integrity during election? Do we only consider their money power before we cast our votes in their favour? The fact is people are aware of the candidate’s credentials and yet they continue to send uneducated persons to represent them in the assembly. Why do people continue to vote for rich candidates only? Rich people continue to win the elections because there is no better candidate in the fray. All the candidates in the fray are no different because the parties use the same mechanism to select candidates. We often hear people quip that the situation that we are in is like we are between the devil and the deep sea. Money plays a crucial role in deciding which candidate wins the election because there are no better alternatives.
Even if we have a well- qualified candidate with better character than the rich candidate, yet he still loses the elections because he plays the rich man’s game. You cannot win the rich man in the rich man’s game for the simple reason that he is experienced in every department of the game. The trick is for the poor man to defeat the rich man by changing the rules of the game and not be tempted to play the same game.
Changing the Game
To change the game is not to use money to win the elections. Period. Using money is a wrong approach for the simple fact that the rich have more money than you and it is impossible to beat them at their own game. Changing the game means to do the opposite of what they are doing. It means the candidate needs to be honest and clear on his or her stand. The candidate needs to have a clear vision and plan on how he/she wishes to serve the constituency. That is how one can counter the influence of money during elections.
Countering the
False Narrative
Of course a healthy democracy needs a vibrant and active participation of the citizens during elections, but it should be voluntary. The voters do not have to be paid to attend the election rallies or to cast their votes in favour of any candidate. A healthy democracy is when we have honest leaders to represent us in the august house and this has to start from the elections. We can counter the false narratives only by having leaders who are honest and truthful in whatever they do or say. The time to change is during the elections and that is by electing good, credible leaders with character. That is how we can change the narrative.
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