Eagerly awaited results of violence-hit election
- The People's Chronicle Editorial :: March 10, 2022 -

AS exit polls do not always get it right, all those whose fates were sealed during the violence-marred elections would be expecting favourable fallout when the final results start to trickle out on March 10, when counting of votes take place.

In a state where candidates frequently shift political loyalties, there is strong possibility that the political pundits might be left red-faced for foretelling which party or parties would form the next government other than limiting the prediction exercise to the probable figures.

Moreover, several strong contenders contested the election as either independent candidates or on tickets of political parties which were yet to make a mark in the state.

There is also a tendency in Manipur among the voters to favour candidates on the basis of their individual calibre and flair, apart from clan and tribal loyalties playing a crucial role in determining who people vote for.

While parties campaigned hard to woo voters with baskets of poll promises, the just-concluded elections would be undesirably remembered for the unprecedented scale of violence and destruction.

Originally scheduled for the two-phase elections to wrap up with the second round of voting on March 5, electors in over 10 constituencies were compelled to exercise their franchise rights on two occasions as unwanted elements defied the clarion calls for free and fair elections.

Among other issues, the elections had seen the opposition parties as well as ruling ally NPP mainly seeking the public mandate on AFSPA-free Manipur agenda whereas the rest played the development card to neutralise the anti-AFSPA narrative.

These were the battlefield slogans that every political party in Manipur used during campaigning to win support.

In the 2017 polls, the general population’s anti-AFSPA sentiment had insignificant bearing as promises to emancipate the state from socio-economic hardships and restore ethno-political order were seen as the better option than grieving over the continuous unbridled power exercised by the security forces.

The BJP managed to secure 36.3 per cent of the total votes polled in 2017 compared to the Congress’s 35.1 per cent but made the first move towards government formation and eventually succeeded in wresting power with the help of Naga People's Front, National People's Party, TMC and independent legislators not to mention of a Congress turncoat, whose decision later offset periodical defections from the grand old party to increase the BJP’s tally in the house.

This time around, the BJP is being pegged to secure 41 per cent of Manipur's total votes polled, followed by 18 per cent for the Congress, 16 per cent for the NPP, 8 per cent for NPF and 17 per cent for others as per some exit polls of agencies which studied campaigns and voting trends during the marathon assembly elections held in five states.

An interesting facet of the polls was that with exception of politically sensitive and geographically massive Uttar Pradesh where votes were cast in seven phases, elections in tiny Manipur had to be extended beyond the two phases that the ECI apparently considered appropriate, only due to a series of violent incidents.

Hopefully, there would be no more violence once the results are declared.