Manipur election trend: Pre-poll investment, public service
- The People's Chronicle Editorial :: February 15, 2022 -

HAVING endured underdevelopment for decades, it appears that people of Manipur have accepted their fate that there wouldn't be any dramatic advancement of the state in the real sense of the term.

Such a perception is not without substance if one examines the election manifestoes of all the parties which repeat the same old promises made in the earlier polls.

For instance, assurances of empowering women, social security, implementation of infrastructure development projects and creation of jobs for the educated as well as half-literate youth, not to speak of repealing the controversial AFSPA 1958, have been the usual agenda for the both ruling and opposition parties.

While partial implementation of the projects and policies would definitely bring significant changes to the state and its people, repetition of the same old promises whenever elections are held leaves nothing to doubt that the politicians accord importance to keeping the people in jovial mood, at-least till the votes are cast.

As the people gear up for the two-phase assembly election, the fact that Manipur is lagging behind in various sectors is starting to come to the fore as all the candidates in the fray promise better days ahead in case he/she gets the people's mandate for the next five years.

While heavy investment of financial and material resources by the parties as well as the individual candidates during the election campaign is being commented as the root cause for the elected people's representatives unable to maintain the same quality of benevolence, the state in general slipping into comatose after the polls also reflects the dependency syndrome of Manipur.

With little or no resource of its own, it's only natural for those helming the state's affairs to look up to New Delhi for receiving project-specific assistance while for the opposition legislators minimal usage of the annual financial allocation to carry out welfare programmes at the level of assembly constituency becomes the norm.

The chronic dependence on the Union government for every penny consequently impedes development of the state as there is no guarantee that New Delhi will eternally patronise the state.

The dependency syndrome is also one of the factors why the intending candidates clamour to contest the election under the flag and symbol of the ruling party or parties for they are fully aware of the expectation of the general voters.

Unlike the ardent supporters who toil and provide funding to ensure candidates of their choice win the polls so as to land government jobs or contract assignment, the commoners' hope is generally associated with having access to the basic needs such as better road, tap water connection and regular ration provision.

Such a public perception is exactly the reason why intending candidates or sitting MLAs, who had been serving the public have advantage over those who only spring into life when elections are round the corner.

In other sense, elections in the state's context is all about how and to what extent the candidates could dedicate time and resources for the public.

Moreover, such periodical interactions with the people help the candidate to understand the grievances and accordingly act to live up to the public's expectation at-least to some extent.