Core points of grasping local issues : Hardselling regional parties
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: September 26, 2014 -

Local issues. The Manipur People’s Party got it bang on target when its president N Sovakiran urged the voters of Hiyanglam Assembly Constituency to vote for the party which is more focused on local issues in the by election to Hiyanglam Assembly Constituency when it goes to polls on October 17.

Hard selling regional or local party and this is in line with the political scenario where regional forces have emerged from the shadows of political parties which cannot look beyond Delhi or mainland India at the cost of the pluralistic identity or nature of the country.

Going to the people with the regional card is fine and acceptable, but regional parties have often fallen into the political trap of trying to define all local issues via Delhi or mainstream politics.

An issue which the MPP unfortunately has not been able to effectively deal with all these years. That N Sovakiran is yet to satisfactorily deal with this question is evident from the interaction he had with the media on September 24 while nominating M Amutombi as the party’s candidate in the by election.

The MPP president did try hard to sell the party as a regional political party which would work for the welfare of the people but in stressing this point the party committed the faux pas of citing the example of the Congress which met its waterloo in the recent Lok Sabha election.

It was not only the Congress which was targeted but also ostensibly the BJP when N Sovakiran sought to get the attention of the voters by stating that the voting pattern should not be dictated by which political party is in power at the Centre.

True but for the MPP to emerge or re-emerge as a major political party in the State, the need to shake off the Delhi centric mindset need not be stressed here. Unfortunately this was what was palpable in the address of the MPP leader.

As the MPP president said, there are a number of local issues besetting the State right now. Not the time to push these issues as something which ought to be addressed only by the State Government or the political party in power.

Time for all political parties to pool their heads and study what course of action ought to be taken up.

As Sovakiran said, there are pressing issues like the Inner Line Permit System, Armed Forces Special Powers Act, border dispute etc which have been dogging the State.

That the MPP leader thought it proper to bring up these issues when a by election is at hand is encouraging, but unfortunate it is that the MPP as a political party has so far not said much on some of the pressing issues such as the Inner Line Permit System.

Does this mean that the oldest regional political party in the North East will take up this issue if and when it manages to send one representative to the Assembly ?

Only the MPP leaders and workers may be able to answer this, but what the think tank of the party should keep in mind is the obvious fact that in any of these issues it should be able to sway the opinion of the people and definitely equating everything with what is happening at Delhi or some place else may not exactly build up enough trust and faith in the people.

Time for the MPP to realise the stark reality and accordingly take up the required steps.