Cabinet session and model code of conduct
- Hueiyen Lanpao Editorial :: February 11, 2012 -

In a democratic country like India, elections to the state Assemblies are considered to be most crucial stages any political party has to pass through.

There is always the desire and the craving to outsmart the other parties with whatever means possible, be it legal or illegal, be it going with the rules of the election or by violating the code of conduct.

This has been one unavoidable peril of electoral process, and Manipur is no exception.

First, it was the Congress party which came out with the decision to convene a cabinet session.

Later, it was the other non-Congress parties charging that the Congress was playing foul and violating the election code of conduct by convening a cabinet session and coming out with certain decisions thereby making it known to the general public.

In both the cases, the people are left wondering as to what is right and who is wrong.

This needs to be discussed and pondered upon.

Is it okay to convene a cabinet session while the election model code of conduct is still in force? Or is it a gross violation of the election code of conduct? As far as we know, there is certainly no problem in convening a cabinet session while the model code of conduct is in force, as long as the decision are not made known to the general public, but it would be taken as a breach of the model code of conduct if the decisions of the cabinet session is made public.

Making the decisions made known to the public can indeed be taken as a means to woo the voters, as the MPP had rightly pointed out when it said that the act of the ruling Congress party in making known the decisions of the cabinet, which included approval of ex-gratia payment, Government jobs to the next of kin of all those who lost their lives in election related violence and also the amendment of Manipur Health Service Leave Rule, is definitely an act to gain public sympathy in case of re-poll.

Various political parties also came up hard on the Congress for committing an alleged blunder and even demanded the Election Commission of India to take up stern actions against the Congress.

However, the Congress may also be right in its own terms.

It had clarified that the resolutions were adopted independently by the State Cabinet and it would not amount to violation of the election model code of conduct.

It had also mentioned that official processes are being initiated for the consent of Election Commission of India to implement the cabinet resolutions.

Having said this, the final verdict on whether the convening of the cabinet session and declaring its decisions to the general public amounts to violation of the election model code of conduct or not lies in the hands of Election Commission of India.

Their decision is final.

Whether the Election Commission of India decides in favour of the Congress or sides with the non-Congress parties is just a matter of time.

In the meantime, we, the general public, do not have to panic, let's just sit back and watch the whole match, we have nothing to lose.