By HH Mohrmen
The long-awaited voting day is here. Today people will decide who will represent them in the Assembly for the next five years. At the same time, the voters will also decide today which party or coalition of parties will form the next government in the state. By the time this paper hits the stand, some voters will have already cast their votes, but this election to the state assembly will be remembered for many things. It has seen many changes, both those led by the community and those led by the government. The community-led change in the different parts of the West Jañtia hills district was brought to light in this column last week. The 2023 campaign for the state assembly election will also be remembered for being the first time ever that social media has played a huge role in the kind of campaign that the candidates and party organized.
The much-needed inclusive voting
This election will be remembered for being the first time in the history of the state that arrangements were made for differently-abled people and the elderly to cast their votes in their residences using postal ballots. For so long, this section of the population has been the most neglected part of society, but this year the office of the Chief Election Officer has taken extra effort to help them exercise their rights to vote. Prior to the voting date, the election office sent officials to the homes of the elderly people who are over eighty years old and the differently-abled people to enable them to exercise their franchise. This is a commendable effort by the government because, without this special arrangement, many of these people would not have gone to the polling booths and thus would have missed out on exercising their rights.
A Violence-Free Election
Of course, the state does not have a history of violence during elections, but despite the high-voltage campaign in many districts, the state remains largely peaceful. Despite highly charged campaigns by different political parties, both national and regional, the state witnessed a violence-free campaign. Except for stray incidents in certain areas of the state, the campaign remained largely peaceful. Hopefully no violence will occur on the polling day and after polling day too, so that Meghalaya will be able to keep its track record of being the state that does not experience violence during elections.
Social media and campaigning
Perhaps this is the first time in the history of Meghalaya that the major political parties, and particularly the national parties, have used social media to the hilt to campaign for their respective parties. It is also not wrong to say that it was the Trinamool Congress that was the first party to use the different social media platforms to campaign for their party in the elections in the state.
The TMC, with the support of the Indian Political Action Committee (IPAC), were the first to take advantage of the opportunity to campaign for their party on Facebook through their Meghalaya Deserve Better page. TMC began campaigning for the election on social media platforms three months before the election was announced. Other national political parties only started making the best use of the platforms after the dates for the general election were announced, and even parties like the BJP came rather late to the game when it came to using social media as a campaign tool. The other national parties that made the best use of social media were the Congress and the National People’s Party. Regional parties, on the other hand, do not have a strong presence on social media, and any social media presence the candidates do have is motivated by their own interests and efforts. This year the print and electronic media were also used to the maximum by the national parties to advertise for their respective parties.
The battle of memes and videos
This election is unprecedented precisely because of the influence of the internet particularly the social media. Various social media platforms make it easier to share information, education, and communication (IEC) materials such as memes and videos. During the campaign period, memes and short videos spread thick and fast. Memes and short videos of key messages in the campaign speeches of the candidates and even the canvassers were shared. The statement made by Prestone Tynsong, “Ngi pynbieij ruh man ka san snem, ki ngop ruh man ka san snem,” is the most talked-about and widely shared speech on various social media platforms. The saying loosely translates to, “we fool them every five years, and they fall for it every five years too.” The other most shared and talked about was a statement by a person from the same place as Tynsong who first coined the saying in Khasi “ka jingsahdien ka jabieng ka don ha ki nongsor kumjuh ha nongkyndong” meaning the non-development of the brain is evident both amongst the rural and urban populations of the state. He was referring to people falling for corrupt politicians, irrespective of the region to which they belong.
The CEO joins the social media bandwagon.
Clearly, strategically placing billboards in various locations throughout the state is insufficient; the government must reach out to every voter in the state. Not to be outdone by the political parties, the office of the Chief Election Officer also made the best use of social media to help run the election smoothly. Apart from using billboards to disseminate the much-needed information to the public about the elections the CEO also produced IEC materials that can be easily shared for the benefit of the public. In spite of the fact that no study has been done to get the statistics of people who use the internet in the state, it will not be widely off the mark to assume that 90–95 percent of the population in urban areas and 75–80 percent in rural areas use the internet. Since social media is here to stay, it is only natural for the CEO to make the best use of the medium.
Pressure Groups in Catch-22 situation
In my humble opinion, there is a difference between non-government organisations (NGO) and pressure groups (PG). As the name implies, NGOs are professionally run organisations registered with the government, but they do not belong to it. They can collaborate with the government, but they are not required to be a part of it. Pressure groups, however, do not have to register with the government, and they can be part of the government, but they are mostly not. The name itself implies that they exist to pressure the government on issues they believe to be of importance. Except for Hynñew Trep Integrated Territorial Organisation (HITO) which went gung-ho in its campaign against the MDA government, other pressure groups may not have taken part in the election per se, but their members and leaders allegedly campaigned for their respective candidates. A meme that questioned the silence of the pressure groups during the election but are quick at organizing protests the moment the government is formed was shared widely. A pertinent question indeed is: if the pressure groups really want an effective government that works in the interest of the general public then they should have ensured that only honest, qualified, and deserving candidates win the election. The public is correct to question the silence of pressure groups at this critical juncture in history.
So far, so good
While voting at the polling stations in all fifty-nine constituencies in the state is going on, perhaps it is not overly optimistic to say that the entire machinery involved in running the election works like a well-oiled machine. Despite many shortcomings, after the results are declared, hopefully the state and its people will be able to look back, tap themselves on the back, and then celebrate the triumph of democracy in the state.