Wake Up Call To All Voters Of Manipur
- Part 2 -

Dr. Khomdon Lisam *

Polling in Outer Manipur Parliamentary Constituency at Thoubal and Chandel district on April 09 2014 :: Pix - Jinendra Maibam

We all like to vote for the best man, but he is never a candidate. Good people never come forward as a candidate for election because they do not want to bribe the voters and they do not have enough money to fight election.. Many good people never vote because they do not like any of the candidates.

We, the people are very forgetful. As the election is coming , it is time for us to reflect and remind ourselves about the true colour of political parties.

Regarding Indian National Congress (INC), the following facts may be considered

1. The Indian National Congress (INC) believed in dynastic rule. Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi came from the same family. Now Sonia Gandhi is desperate to make her son Rahul Gandhi the Prime Minister of India . Our innocent Prime Minister of India , Honble Shri Manamohon is ever ready to step down any moment for the sake of Rahul Gandhi. Can any of the members of the INC in India contradict this statement ? The example of the INC is followed by many leaders of smaller political parties in India. This tradition has already reached Manipur. Can anyone contradict this statement ?

2. Do the Indian National Congress Party (INC) believed in democracy. Sonia Gandhi is the President of INC . She appointed Pratibha Patil as the President of India ( 25 July, 2007- 25 July, 2012 , Mr. Pranab Mukherjee as the President of India ( 25 July- ) , Manamohon as the Prime Minister of India (22 May, 200$ till date), Meira Kumar as the Lok Sabha Speaker (3 June, 2009 – till date) Sheila Dikshit (11 March, 2014) as the Governor of Kerala after her defeat in the Delhi Assembly election at the hands of Arvind Kejriwal, Rishang Keishing as the Rajya Sabha MP for the second time (August, 2009) and many Chief Ministers and Ambassadors. Prime Minister, Manamohon is now ready to resign any day in favour of Rahul Gandhi. Is it democracy or Kleptocracy – a Government by those who seek power, status and personal gain at the expense of the governed.

In India, Democracy is not " the government of the people, by the people and for the people ". It is rather the government of the rich people , by the rich people and for the rich people. The common people has no role to play in decision making in India. Even the Chief Ministers are not allowed to take certain decisions pertaining to his own state. While I was in U.K in 1992, I proudly said to my colleague from London, " India is the largest democracy in the world ". He immediately replied " India is one country where first class people are ruled by third class politicians . Now I start realising the meaning of it.

3. Corruption and bribery is the culture of the Congress party. Rahul Gandhi is going to spend Rs. 500 Crores for payment to Genesis Burson-Marsteller and Japanese advertising firm Dentsu, for advertisement of his candidature in the forthcoming Lok Sabha election. But surprisingly , nobody ask the question where the money is coming from.

4. Indian National Congress indulged in the following scandals (1) The Bofors scam was a major corruption scandal in India in the 1980s; when the then PM Rajiv Gandhi and several others including a powerful NRI family named the Hindujas, were accused of receiving kickbacks of $ 1. 3 billion from Bofors AB for winning a bid to supply India's 155 mm field howitzer. (2) 2G Spectrum Scam- involving former Telecom minister A. Raja with Rs.1.76-lakh crore worth for awarding 2G license awards in 2008 at a throw-away price which were pegged at 2001 prices. (3) Coalgate Scandal -2012 resulting in an estimated loss of Rs. 186,000 crores. (4) 2010- Commonwealth Games Scam- involving Rs. 7000 crores. There are many more scandals in which Indian National Congress is involved which I do not want to mention further.

5. Many of the political parties are communal. The INC was responsible for slaughtering more than 8000 Sikhs in 1984 , of which 3000 are from Delhi.

Corruption poses a serious threat to democracy, development and economy of a country. Corruption in elections undermines democracy, reduces accountability and distorts representation in policymaking .

Regarding the Manipur State Congress, the following facts may be considered

1. Manipur State Congress Party was responsible for the controversial merger of Manipur with India on 15 October, 1949. On 3rd July, 1949, (Sunday) the Manipur State Congress led by Jneshwar , General Secretary of the Manipur State Congress , Salam Tombi and Loitam Yaima and their followers organized a meeting at Thoubal and advocated for abolition of kingship and merging Manipur with India. Later on , the Manipur State Congress Party was able to get recognition from the All India Congress Committee and finally , it became a political unit of the All India Congress Committee.

In the mean time, the Government of India instructed the Government of Assam to complete the negotiation for merger of Manipur into India by 20th September, 1948. The Manipur State Congress Party mentioned that the Government of Manipur was not able to maintain law and order situation of the country , there was an apprehension of taking over the country by the Communist revolution in Burma , the integration of Manipur with India would have peace and development.

The Government of India and the Indian National Congress got an opportunity to interfere in the internal affairs of Manipur with blessings and support from the Manipur State Congress. After merger, the Manipur State Congress Party took out a procession with band party to celebrate the occasion. They expressed their happiness by throwing up their congress caps into the sky in the Pologround. The members of Manipur State Congress were busy in trying to get a foot hole in the new Government . This is history, you can not contradict.

2. Manipur State Congress Party signed the agreement for Naga integration on 4 August, 1972. Later, our respected Shri Rishang Keising, Rajya Sabha Member from Manipur and Shri Gaikhangam, Home Minister were the first to sign the Naga integration memorandum entitled "Memorandum of Naga Members of Parliament and Members of Legislative Assembly from Manipur for strengthening the ongoing peace negotiation between the Government of India and the NSCN-IM" to the Prime Minister on 27 May, 2005 as published in the North East Sun, dated 15th July, 2005. (Pradeep Phanjoubam and Deepak Dewan) " In other words, the demand for Nagalim , Alternative Arrangement of NSCN-IM is with the blessings of, our respected Shri Rishang Keising and Shri Gaikhangam. The demands of NSCN-IM is the making of Manipur State Congress party. Can any member of the Congress party contradict this statement ?

3. In Manipur , the Ministers and MLAs become contractors. The genuine contractors have disappeared. We can count, how many MLAs and Ministers are having JCV machines. The rules and procedures of contract work are often not followed. Anybody on the street can quote the price tag for the post of a SI, ASI , Constable in the police department or for the post of a Clerk or Nurse in the Government Department or RIMS. It is said that the market price of one SI is Rs. 15-25 lakhs , for one ASI, it is 7-10 lakhs and for one Constable, a clerk 5-7 lakhs or a Nurse, it is 13-15 lakhs depending on the political connection. Almost every Government servant has to pay bribe for posting in the valley. Corruption in Manipur has become something respectable because so many respectable people are involved in it. The common people have to sell their paddy field or homestead to bribe the ministers for getting a job. The educated youths are terribly frustrated to see the level of corruption in Manipur.

4.We heard that some of the Congress candidates distributed Rs. 1000 note to each and very voter in the last Assembly election- 2012 making themselves very cheap. I strongly suspect that use of EVM machine without paper trail, distribution of Rs. 1000 note and use of police personnel in election campaigns were mainly responsible for wining 42 seats in the last Assembly election in 2012. People have seen that the ruling party use the police force openly for campaigning and winning election. No political party can compete with the Manipur Congress in terms of money and muscle power. That is why our Hon'ble Chief Minister Shri O.Ibobi Singh and Deputy Chief Minister, Shri Gaikhangam are proudly declaring that the Congress party is wining this coming election. When money speaks , the truth is silent.

4. On January 6, 2012, our Hon'ble Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh handed over the ceremonial keys of the Rs 224 crore-Loktak Lake clean-up project to representatives of one new company namely K Pro Infra Works Private Ltd, existing only on paper, located at the ground, Flat No A-104, Plot No 29 (New Friends Apartment), Sector 6, Dwarka , New Delhi. The said company belonged to his son and the tender for award of Rs. 224 crores was done in violation of the Central Public Works Department norms, which requires at least three bidders for such tenders ( Tehelka Report),

5. On 4 January, 2012, a sum of Rs. 60 lakhs was seized at Delhi airport from a passenger coming from Imphal airport. However, the identity of the person who was carrying the money and to whom the money was to be paid had not been disclosed. The silence of the Chief Minister is deafening .

6. On 11 January, 2013, a team of Imphal West police had seized pseudoephedrine hydrochloride worth Rs 1.4 crore from Tulihal airport. But the real owner of the drug is not disclosed. That means, somebody with highest political powers who can afford Rs. 1.4 crore might be involved.

7. On 24, February, 2013, Defence PRO Ajay Chowdhury and aides were picked up by Thoubal commandos from Pallel carrying drugs worth Rs 25 crore to the Indo-Myanmar border town of Moreh. But the real owner of the drug is not disclosed. That means, somebody with highest political powers who can afford Rs. 25 crore might be involved. Only small fry are caught, we can't we catch the big fish . There are many other instances of corruption and drug seizure in Manipur. But I do not want to go further.

To be continued ..