Local body polls – Congress-BJP face-off
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: January 11 2016 -

The stage is set for the election to 18 Municipal Councils and 8 Nagar Panchayats. Though the election and its campaigns do not generate as much heat as the periodic Legislative Assembly elections, the significance of the local body election cannot be undermined.

In fact, the January 11 election assumes greater significance in view of the fact that the next State Assembly election is due in 2017.

Many political pundits are of the opinion that the local body election is a precursor to the Assembly election and for political parties, particularly Congress and BJP, Monday's election is a rehearsal for the bigger election.

Whichever party wins the local body election is likely to enjoy upper hands at least psychology going to the Assembly election next year. Herein lies the crucial importance of the ensuing election.

In any democratic set-up, all local body elections are important regardless of whether it precedes or succeeds a State Legislative Assembly election. Elected local bodies are the agents of democracy at grassroots level.

For democracy to flourish at all strata of the society and for public welfare programmes and development projects to reach grassroots level, local bodies are crucial.

In fact, they are the media and agents of democracy at grassroots level. If we put it in another word, elected local bodies constitute building blocks of democracy.

So there is all the need to ensure that the election is held under free and fair atmosphere.

Democracy is no democracy if the election process is rigged or voters are not allowed to vote in accordance to their own free will.

Local body elections with or without State Assembly election following them are important.

But it must be accepted that what generates the greater quantum of public interests, particularly among political analysts and observers in the local body election is its close schedule with the next State Assembly election.

For quite a long period of time, Congress party has been dominating the electoral politics of Manipur with no noteworthy opposition parties.

But with the all pervading wave of Narendra Modi sweeping all across the country in 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the invincibility of Congress party has been threatened and this was testified by the results of the by-election to Thangmeiband AC and Thongju AC in November last year.

Of course, Congress attributed the victory of BJP to the personal charisma of their candidates and they vehemently denied the Modi wave ever reaching the soil of Manipur.

Whereas Congress party was campaigning on the plank of its secular character by simultaneously projecting BJP as a communal party, BJP has been woing voters by claiming themselves as harbinger of a political revolution in the country.

It is rather disappointing that none of these political parties bothered to address the day to day problems and issues of people at the grassroots level.

For instance, quality educational infrastructure, good roads, potable water and reliable power supply etc still remain unaffordable luxuries to a large section of the people.

Nonetheless, hectic poll campaigns and exhaustive efforts made by Congress and BJP to belittle each other in the run up to the election showed that neither party is taking anything for granted.

In fact they are heading for pitched battles and the battle line has been drawn. Notably, Congress party has been fielding 199 candidates against BJP's 181.

With 16 and 9 candidates respectively, CPI and LJP are also in the fray. Moreover, 280 independent candidates are contesting the local body election and who knows they may turn out to be deciding factors regarding which party enjoys majority in the Nagar Panchayats and the Municipal Councils.

Whether BJP can evolve itself into a formidable contender to the Congress party in the State can be guessed from the results of the local body election as many political pundits believe that Mondays election is a precursor to the next year's Manipur Legislative Assembly election.

Our humble appeal to all voters and elected leaders is vote sensibly, act responsibly.