Campaigning for the 16th Lok Sabha polls : The candidates
- Part 1 -

Yangsorang Rongreisek *

People going to the poll on Election Day in various places of Manipur on Jan 28 2012

Ahead of the 16th Lok Sabha Poll to be held in the early part of 2014, what is to signal for the campaign is the outcome of my investigation after having conducted several polls at different polling stations in both the hills and valley of Manipur since December, 1979. It is a pleasure to depict what the modern day campaign style and strategy really looks like in a democracy which is more than a form of govt but a way of life too.

Not surprisingly, there are many people who are acquainted with making comments on poll and its verdict without entering politics. Beginning my career with AMSU in 1971, later becoming the President of ATSUM from June, 1975 to May, 1977 (the year of poll to the 6th Lok Sabha) well over 36 years ago and risking my life even up to the extent of pressing Modhu Limaye and Rabi Ray, Central Political Observers in Manipur in May, 1977 for installation of a popular ministry in Manipur, I have a retelling about the high risk campaign involving huge expenditures. With the countdown barely four months away from now as per prediction, the road to candidacy, planning & campaign strategy may be constructed.

The main event in politics is an election. Nothing else so dramatically focuses public attention upon the political process. Nothing else so forcefully gives the voters an immediate chance to participate in governmental affairs. To what extent the election successfully serves the purposes, indeed, to what extent democracy itself succeeds depends in largest measure upon the men and women for whom the people vote—the candidates. They have the opportunity to educate, to lead in matters of public concern, who they are, how they come to the fore, and why they contest tell us much about the kind of political system we have.

We in Manipur are a varied group, and our candidates reflect this variety as in the case of Outer Manipur Parliamentary Constituency. Candidates come from all walks of life, with different backgrounds, experiences, qualifications and personalities. There is no model candidate as such, and never was so in the past polls. Some with all the ingredients for success have flopped and others unheard of when they began have won smashing victories.

No matter what generalizations are made about candidates, the fact remains that any boy or girl in a high school right now might someday be a candidate. Today, candidates from ethnic tribal groups like Vaiphei, Gangte and Baite could even manage to make inroad in the Manipur Legislative Assembly and Parliament as well. It is fantastic and encouraging.

Just because people want to be candidates does not necessarily mean that they always say so. In fact, one of the normal tactics in becoming a candidate is to steadfastly maintain that he doesn’t intend to contest. The theory is that this develops an appearance of modesty and an impression that the person ultimately contests only because of great popular demand.

Most of the candidates do have much in common. First and foremost, they are talkers. They speak out easily and straight away. During the campaigns, they are generally at ease with all sorts of people. They are fond of meetings and, being with other people. With a few candidates, these traits are only skin-deep. Candidates usually pursue their interests in people by joining a variety of organizations within their constituencies. They become active in clubs, religious and charitable organizations.

These groups provide a wide potential of political support. A final characteristic is the intangible quality of leadership. It is not just personality. People want candidates they can respect - men and women in whom they can place public trust. They want the candidates to look ahead, to point the way to lead. A person endowed with a well known family name often has a big advantage.

Apart from it, the best boost for candidacy comes from fame, becoming well and favourably well known to the public through their reputation in students unions and other social movement at the state level in the case of candidacy for LS. A name often becomes well known in politics through a succession of defeats. In many cases, the difference between becoming a candidate and winning or forever remaining a hopeful is just luck. Some accumulated with wealth also emerge as candidates.

Some candidates enter political arena drawn by the lure of power, some by money. Nearly all candidates for LS are motivated to some extent by the desire for fame. The thundering applause of an admiring audience, once heard, will be pursued by many for life time. For them politics is a game where the winner has power, and the object is simply to hold power as long as possible. In few human activities can we gain so much power so quickly? It is possible by winning an election. But for a few men in public life the exercise of power is an end in itself—no botheration for public welfare after winning an election that is what we have experienced all these years.

Then, of all these, it is the campaign the candidate has to conduct vigorously, and it is thus a pitched battle of politics. The most intensive phase of campaigns begins with the candidate’s direct appeal to the people for their votes one or two months before polls actually take place. A political campaign for a candidate is a kaleidoscope of activity.

It is excitement and long hours, enthusiasm and despair, high hopes and disappointments, exhilaration and exhaustion. But all the fanfare and confusion cannot obscure one simple, unyielding fact: the candidate is before the voters to be watched and heard, liked or disliked, cheered or booed, respected or reviled in big gatherings. And finally approved or rejected. For all the trappings of a campaign, nothing really comes between the candidate and the voters.

They see him as he is. They learn of his record. They measure his personal qualities as in the case of constituencies in urban areas, quite unlike as in the villages of Manipur. The candidate is the key to the campaign. His failings lead to defeat. His strengths make victory possible. No candidate can win an election without the campaign activity of other people from the campaign manager to the volunteer, each campaigner plays a vital role in the political process.

In the group of people working directly for the candidate himself who makes the central decision of the campaign. He is known as the chief agent. To him fall the myriad tasks of setting up the campaign, keeping it moving, and leaving the candidate as free as possible to concentrate on his major task for winning votes.

And all are needed if the candidate is to win. Some of all these men and women leave their regular jobs to campaign full time for 2 or 3 months. Some have high ideals they want to advance. Others have suddenly become excited over a single issue—the need for a bridge or school or playground. Some seek only personal rewards of prestige, a job or money. Each one of them has succumbed to the fascination of politics. They assess his stands on the issues. They form the basic judgment to be made—whether they want the man to represent them in the parliament. For the candidate the campaign is the acid test.

To be continued...