Taking democracy to the grassroot level : Silent on crucial posers
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: June 01 2015 -

To many this may be more than just a crucial warm up match.

May not exactly be the semi-final, but many may view this as another crucial test ahead of the State Assembly election, scheduled for some time in 2017.

As mentioned earlier, there are three major players personified by the BJP, the Congress and the NPF and even as the people read this, many would be readying to cast their vote for the election to the Autonomous District Councils.

Tough to say which way the wind will blow, but undoubtedly the Congress does have a tough task at hand. The reality says it all.

With the BJP in power at the Centre, the party is intent on making inroads into Manipur and the ADC election offers just the right moment.

The number of Central Ministers who came here to campaign for the BJP should be more than enough to indicate that the party has taken the election seriously and is putting its best foot forward.

The same may be said of the NPF too, though not all the heavyweights from Nagaland descended on Manipur to campaign for the party.

However with its good showing at the 2012 Assembly election here, it has already made its intention clear.

Clearly the NPF is a party which is on the rise in the hill districts, particularly in the Naga dominated districts.

The Congress on the other hand has not roped in any Central leaders to campaign for the party here, but it is banking on the fact that it is the party in power here.

Moreover it has never hesitated in reminding the Christian dominated people of the hill districts of how some Churches have been vandalised and ransacked in some parts of the country.

A handy object to whip the BJP with. How much such a strategy will help in winning the confidence of the voters is something which can be told only when the votes are counted.

Three political parties fighting it out and the intensity of the contest can be gauged from the charges and counter-charges that have been hogging prime space in all the newspapers in Manipur.

However more than apparent that no one has deemed it proper or fit to even raise some questions which directly affect the lives of the hill people.

After decades, election to the ADCs was held in 2010. Has the ADC been able to deliver anything to the people, five years after the elections were held ?

If yes, then what are the major achievements of the Council which was set up for the benefits of the hill people ?

If no, then what went wrong ?

Why have these questions not been raised by any of the political parties ?

Or is it a case of the people actually not meriting any concern ? How about the roads and bridges in the hill districts ?

All the district headquarters may be well connected with good roads, but how about the villages lying in the interior parts of the State ?

How about the state of education there ?

Are the doctors and teachers posted in the far flung areas sincerely attending to their duties ?

How about power and water supply ?

The power supply scenario in Imphal has improved dramatically, but can the same thing be said about the hill districts ?

These are issues which directly affect the common people and it says something significant that no hard questions were raised about these during the election campaigns.