Meghalaya bucks the trend when it comes to voting. Political parties and their ideologies or manifestos matter little to the opportunistic voter. Yet the dance of democracy has begun in full swing with leaders of political parties boasting aloud that people are making a beeline to join their parties. As if that means anything at all. The political party merely provides a uniform for old timers to be seen in new colours. They are old wine in recycled bottles. At the end of the day we all know and have internalised the fact that – ‘Money Matters’ and political parties are ready and willing to admit candidates they do not need to fund but who will fund their own election campaigns. Such candidates are labelled as “winnable.” Winnability is not measured by any moral or ethical standard for there is no longer any such standard in Meghalaya society. Today the voters are ahead of politicians. The unifier is a common feeling that elections are a ‘now or never’ opportunity to make whatever money is possible from contesting candidates. Avariciousness is the new normal and new candidates longing to serve the state and to prove to the voters that money is not the only criterion for winning elections are being scoffed at as naïve and idealistic.
It is not the voter that has turned mercenary. It is the politician that has whetted the appetite of the voter since the past two decades when business tycoons (by Meghalaya’s standards) started joining politics, not to serve the constituency or the cause of democracy but to make it easier for themselves to do business. Hence, we have an MLA that owns a construction company being appointed Minister, Public Works Department in what is a direct conflict of interests. It’s a different matter that the majority of MLAs are also contractors and businesspersons because politics has become the new business model – a politics of aspirations.
Today voters are not apologetic about voting for those that pay them the moolah. In this aspect the Election Commission of India and the State Election Commission have absolutely no control over money changing hands by the crores during the election season when the campaign period begins. Instead of asking the political contenders some pertinent questions about (a) what blueprint they have for taking Meghalaya to the next level in terms of economic development? (b) how do they envisage creating job opportunities for the thousands of qualified but unemployed youth? (c) questions on whether sustainable mining is possible etc., we have pliable voters who sing and dance during elections meetings. This has reduced democracy to a farce in Meghalaya.
