2 phased polls over, now what ? : Will it make any difference ?
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: April 18 , 2014 -

So voting in Manipur is over. The important question is, will it make any difference ?

Did the voters vote to let the two representatives represent their case on the floor of Parliament or were they induced or intimidated to vote for any particular candidate ?

Did the voters sell their votes or gave in to the threats and diktats or did they buy the ideas, the integrity, sincerity, efficiency and competency of the candidates with their votes ?

And did all the enlisted voters turn out to exercise their franchise rights ?

Have any lessons been learnt from the past ?

Were the votes cast only for the next five years or with a vision for the future ?

Was there any realisation that in hitting the button on the EVMs the voters were sealing their fate, rather than the fate of the candidates ?

All questions but relevant questions nevertheless.

Come May 16 and certain pointers to the questions raised here may become visible.

Here it is important to remember that post mortems on the result of the election should not be the only responsibility of the political parties but also the citizens for democracy would surely lose its sheens if people do not take part in discussions and debates on election related matters.

A look at the pre-poll campaigning and the manner in which candidates and political parties went hammer and tongs against each other may be line here.

If one looks back, it was more a case of lung power and hurling invectives, though to be fair to the candidates here, they did not cross the rubicon of the Election Code of Conduct.

If it was the Congress and the Naga People’s Front in the Outer Parliamentary Constituency with their no holds barred argument, with Nagaland Chief Minister Nephiu dangerously coming close to what is termed hate speech, when he dubbed his Manipur counter part as the biggest enemies of the Naga people, here in the Inner Parliamentary it was the BJP and the Congress which engaged in a verbal duel, giving back each other word for word.

The CPI did not lag behind, landing punches when it mattered.

In the din that was kicked up, issues which are important to the people were not debated or debated to the extent that they should have been.

Other than tall promises, all failed to raise issues which have been making life hell for the people.

Why should people continue to spend a huge amount of money in buying fuel to run their home generators ?

Why should people shell out money to hire private water tankers for their daily consumption ?

What happened to the more than 100 days blockade way back in 2011 and the others before that ?

What happened to the series of drugs heist that rocked the State not so long back ?

Given the quality or lack of quality of debates and discussions, then can the people really expect something fresh and new now ?

We may sound overly pessimistic but all the political parties failed to properly highlight these issues.

An indication that they are totally at a loss when it comes to nagging issues which have been dogging the people for ages.

On the other hand the media in Manipur did the best they could, though The Sangai Express will not hesitate to say that we still have a long way to go while covering elections and exposing the chinks.

A comment or an observation which has already been highlighted in all its sincerity some days back, after the election to the Outer Parliamentary Constituency.

In less than a month the answer will emerge whether the people or the voters have learnt a lesson or two from the past, but judging by the present trend there is nothing much to take comfort in.

Granted it was not as lavish as the Assembly election in 2012. Granted, election to the Lok Sabha has never been able to whip up a frenzy on the scale of the election to the State Assembly.

True times have changed and people have slowly but gradually come around to the importance of the election to Parliament, but yet there is still a lot of ground to be covered.

Election is over and other than waiting for the results to come in, this should also be the time for the thinking citizens of the land to introspect and look back and study whether they voted for the candidate of their choice to represent their case or were induced or intimidated to vote for any particular candidate.

The office of the CEO may also take note of this with the seriousness it deserves.