Manifesto irrelevant, centre's goodwill must
- The People's Chronicle Editorial :: February 19, 2022 -

THOUGH the ruling BjP released its manifesto for the two-phase Assembly elections belatedly, it's obvious that everybody waited eagerly to get an insight into what and how realistic the party's vision would be.

Unsurprisingly, the saffron party came up with a wide range of promises aimed at addressing socio-economic issues besieging the underprivileged section of the population and improving the healthcare system.

As a party holding the rein of power at the centre and also in the state, BJP's assurances of providing two-wheelers to meritorious female students at college level, increase the monthly pension for senior citizens to Rs 1000, earmark Rs 100 crore as fund for start-up initiatives, distribute free laptops to aid meritorious students pursue higher education, etc., seem doable.

No doubt, promises contained in the manifestoes of other parties, which are in the fray are also impressive enough and could be implemented.

For all the active political parties, elections provide an opportunity to promise winds of change and prepare their manifestoes to give a breathe of new life and create excitement.

Even if manifestos lack legal basis and are primarily a declaration of a political party's agenda, it is known to all that very rarely parties keep the promises after wresting power.

As voters do not have the means to hold parties accountable for the failure of keeping their promises, relevance of such election-centric documents tend to decline.

Some political scientists also view the irrelevance of manifestos as the biggest drawback of Indian democracy.

Amid political analysts and commentators arguing that election manifestos never carry any special relevance in India since the firstgeneral elections conducted in 1951-52, political parties continue to offer populist schemes such as subsidies and free commodities in their election manifestos.

There had been instances, when the Supreme Court ordered the Election Commission to frame appropriate guidelines to curb the misuse of manifestos, which in recent years have degenerated.

Some attribute this phenomenon to the rise of coalition politics, especially after national parties declined and regional ones became more powerful.

Leaving aside the pros and cons of manifestoes, the saffron party skipping some sensitive issues, the demand for withdrawal of AFSPA 1958 in particular, will definitely invigorate its rivals to launch blistering attacks in the remaining days till the votes are cast.

Considering its ultra-nationalistic posture and top leaders' stinging reactions when anybody raises posers on national security issues, BJP opting to downplay the growing pitch for withdrawal of Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) is understandable for the party believes that any move or policy detrimental to interest of the armed forces would be fraught with great risk.

With insurgency movement far from being over in the state, the party's manifesto schemers must have chosen to maintain the status quo.

Notably, BJP national president JP Nadda commending the leadership of chief minister N Biren during the manifesto releasing event and crediting him for everything happening or not happening in the state in the debut term of the party-led coalition government is akin to putting the load on the latter's shoulders to keep the momentum going and prove the detractors wrong that persisting with the constitutional empowerment of the military is out of necessity.

As stated by Nadda that the manifesto is a not a simple piece of paper but a development map for Manipur, the people wouldn't mind as long as the centre remains generous to whichever party heads the next government as the state desperately needs the centre's patronage to be able to join the race of development.