These days, even for the post of a peon, detailed educational qualifications and experiences are being prescribed in detail but there are no such things for a politician. This does not mean that any body who has a fake BA degree and could not get job, or the man who has marauded poor man's share and become filthy rich & able to exploit the poor villagers, can take up the job of a politics.

Vocation of politics required entirely different types of personality & qualification, which cannot be constricted by mere university degree or experiences. And that is why Indian constitution deliberately silent on this important aspect.

But, unfortunately, our people failed to understand this fact and abused politics as if it is the place for scoundrels or for traders to make money. Most of the mess up in our society is due to this reason. If we want to bail out our society from this nasty state, this is the right time that we should select the right person to be our political leaders.

Than who should be the right person? Or in other words, what are the criteria that our people should look for to elect our leaders in this coming state assembly election?

What about party ideologies?

Party ideology is an important aspect of democratic electoral process and selecting a leader. However, party ideology is more relevant to national politics like Parliamentary Election. In the state politics, especially north east, party ideologies do not carry much weightage.

In fact, I am doubtful whether our politicians who espouse to different political parties, except a few leftist or veteran politicians, would really know the ideology of their parties? In my observation, many of them run after national parties without knowing anything about the party except that they hear the name of the party leader and they attach that party in order to get material benefits.

Therefore, affiliations to a political party do not have much meaning to our people. Besides, the risk of supporting political party is that, in parliamentary democracy there is great tendency on the part of parties to give first priority to the interest of the dominant communities and ignore the minorities. This is basically due to so called 'vote bank politics'

Most of our politicians, in order to fill their purses or sit on the chair, follow the dictate of the party, forgetting the poor voters who have elected him/her. Hence, supporting our candidates on the basis of attachment to a party may not be beneficial for us.

This does not necessarily mean that right person contesting from the party ticket should be rejected. This only means that it is always better to elect a leader based on the personal integrity-intellectual fitness, his commitment, sincerity and most of his love & passion to serve the people.

Such leader will never succumb into the party's dictate at the cost of those who elected him. In a sense, we need leader like Bengali Lady, Mamata Benerjee who can go to any extend for the sake of his /her people's interest.

Therefore, party ideology or attachment to political party should not be given the first preference to select our representatives rather we should elect the candidates, who are intellectually qualified, have vision and sincere love and commitment to the welfare of the people he represent.

What about to fall on ethnic line:

There is a risk indulging in ethnic politics since this is the most emotive issue that can easily blind our eyes of reason and drive us to insanity. However, India, as a democratic country, any ethnic group or tribe or community can form a group or party and join the in the election process.

In the past, Manipur politics, ethnic factor was not that significant. However, this time around, ethnic issue seems to have become prominent agenda-especially after United Naga Council (UNC) brought out Naga Integration agenda. There is nothing wrong in it politically; UNC or for that matter, any ethnic group or tribe, has every right to articulate their political ideology based on their interest, present to the people and ask their support.

However, it is extremely important to keep in mind that each group/party needs to play their political games within the democratic norms of civilized modern society.

What is that norm?

We are in the age every human being is assiduously struggling for freedom: freedom from archaic traditions, customs & beliefs; freedom from obscurant ideologies & philosophies and freedom from domination by the politically & economically superior nations.

What freedom- freedom to reason & question, freedom to think, freedom to express, freedom to exercise ones right and freedom to live as a dignified human being. It is due to simple fact that freedom is the basis of growth of human mind and progress and development of human society.

Today the world admires western civilization and imitates them. We admire the economic and technological progress and development of the west. What is the secret of their development? It is freedom.

The seed of western civilization, its progress and development is in the spirit of freedom that was born as a fruit of Martin Luther's Protestant Reformation in 16ht century. Thus freedom is the secret of social political, economic progress of human society.

If our people want our society to grow we must cherish & nurture the spirit of freedom and strive to promote it at any cost. We must see that our people express their feelings freely without any fear, exercise their rights freely without any inhibition, according to their conscience.

This implies that using coercive methods by the candidates or parties or groups (underground or over ground) during the election to achieve their objective should be avoided by any means. Plainly speaking threatening certain candidates or political parties from contesting the election, intimidating poor villagers at gunpoint to fall into the line of one party's dictate, should be avoided.

Resorting to such methods is suppressing the basic right of freedom of our people and thus retrograding ourselves to the Dark-Age, which is anti-thesis to the growth of human mind, progress, development. Moreover, resorting to such act would be nothing but Talibanization of our society.

Above all, it is necessary for all the stake holders in the election to know that hundreds of young Manipuri intellectuals are keenly watching over the every development in the state, specially the role of NGOs, Civil Societies and political parties, in the coming Manipur assembly election.

Every action has its own consequences and reaction. Wrong decision would produce undesirable consequences and receive negative reaction. It is highly imperative that the civil societies or NGO's and political parties who are taking a part in this coming election play their appropriate role to select the right leader to lead us for the coming five years.

Otherwise, instead of electing leaders to rebuild our society, it will be the beginning of balkanization of Manipuri society. Anyway, the point here is, selecting our political leaders according to ethnic interest also would not do anything better for the people.

Than whom should we elect? Let us forget about the political parties- Congress, BJP, MPP, NCP, or any party or ethnic groups or ideology-let us extend our heartiest support to the one who has heart for us, the one who understands our misery and who hears our silent cry.

Who would be that candidate?

• Dynamic young men or women with a vision and burning desire to a bring change in our society;
• Young man who has no fear to say 'NO' to the wrong
• the man has guts to stand up and fight against the corruption;
• Who do not succumb to the dictate or thread of vested interest group of our society but stand firm on the principle he stands for his people and relentlessly struggle to fulfill it.
• A man or woman of integrity;
• morally upright, intellectually enlightened & fit;
• the man who understand the reality of fast changing world;
• the man who is conversant with the prevailing social, political, economic and technological dynamics of the global society.
• A man or woman of broad mind (big hearts) who sees others from the prism of humanity rather than from the lanes of tribe, ethnicity, caste and religion.