The silent period as demanded by Election Rules started on Wednesday February 19 at 4 PM. However, what happens during this period is a mad fury to reach out to voters by hook and crook and most election commissioners who have now retired have publicly spoken and said that these 48 hours before election are the crucial moments when money changes hands. And candidates with money to burn usually carry the trophy. It’s been a month of braggadocio for political party honchos each making claims taller than the other almost to the point of breaching their Constitutional integrity. A senior leader of the NPP during his campaign said he would bulldoze all the impediments to mining, quarrying and all other barriers that would stand in the way of the extractive economy. If that is the brief of a political party what will be the environmental consequences? In this game of one-upmanship up to what extent will the Party/Parties concede to demands from the mining lobby? Or the timber lobby for that matter? Is it going to be a downward final journey to extinction for Meghalaya? For, when the environment dies humans will die with it. But why would politicians whose only quest is to hold power care about the long-term interests of the state and its people.
How many MLAs and MDCs have ever shown any concern for Meghalaya’s dying rivers? Has any MDC visited a river in his/her constituency and shown any interest in rejuvenating such rivers which once had swift-flowing, clear waters but are now sluggish drains? How many MDCs have taken up the issue of our balding forests and the continued charcoal production despite the existing ban on this activity which has resulted in even young trees being massacred to keep up the trade? No candidate will champion the need for environmental safeguards because it does not win political points.
In the same vein did any MDC candidate, particularly those contesting from Ri Bhoi area take up the issue of the massive pollution in Byrnihat which has reduced that entire area into a no-sun zone. The sun no longer shines over Byrnihat. But is anyone even remotely anxious about what this does to the health of the residents? Was it a part of culture to pollute the environment? If not, why are the Councillors not saying anything on the issue of industrial pollution? Populism and bluster were in full display and votes were sought on how much the MDCs would climb down from well-established environmental laws. Each candidate is thinking of the here and now; of immediate gains, the future be damned. And from now until 2028 there will be a conspiratorial silence on every issue that directly affects people. The Assembly sessions and ADC meetings will revolve around other peripheral issues largely financial in nature. To expect things to change dramatically after February 24 is a fool’s errand.
