Change of guards : Understanding the static
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: October 20 2011 -

The record is amazing. In the 1995 election to the State Legislative Assembly, 42 sitting MLAs were shown the door and in came a crop of fresh faces including the now veteran Govindas Konthoujam and Moirangthem Hemanta while the debutants included the late Wangkhem Basanta, M Nodiachand etc.

Forty one new faces in a House of 60 was a damning rejection of the previous set but Manipur remained the same. The faces in the Assembly did change, incredibly but there was nothing to suggest that new ideas had come to roost and perhaps this was an indictment of the general understanding that far from ushering in some positive changes, the new faces, especially the younger lot failed to inject fresh thoughts.

On the contrary, the 6th Assembly witnessed how the chair of the Speaker could be used as the final arbiter in deciding which way the balance would tilt. Those were the days before the stringent anti-defection Bill was passed and political leaders changed their colours faster than one could say Congress or MPP.

To the CM's chair via the seat of the Speaker was staged with such panache that it culminated in the then Speaker W Nipamacha unseating the then seemingly invincible Rishang Keishing and the rest as they say is history. The troika of Nipamacha, Dr Chandramani and Th Chaoba lorded over the gradual decline of the State, to such an extent that overdraft entered the lexicon of everyone from the top bureaucrat to the village yokel.

Salaries of Government employees remained unpaid for months on end and perhaps for the first time in the history of the land, releasing the salaries of the Government employees became one of the most sought after news stories.

This was at the latter part of the last century and the extremely populist decision to embrace the 5th Pay Commission only made things harder. Faces did change but Manipur remained static.

In the 2000 election the script ran along similar line with 31 sitting MLAs tasting defeat. The MSCP led by the troika of Nipamacha, Chandramani and Chaoba (As the MP from Inner Manipur) returned to power with the MSCP ermerging the single largest party, but the honeymoon did not last long as the start of the endless game of musical chair began in right earnest.

This Assembly saw the short lived Radhabinod Koijam Government after the then Speaker S Dhananjoy desperately tried to do a Nipamacha. History was also created as the veteran Rishang Keishing was reduced to the only MLA on the Opposition bench in a House of 60, taking the understanding of party hopping and chameleons to newer heights.

In 2002 too, the change pattern continued with the choice of the voters with 43 sitting MLAs shown the door. The statistics and figures say it all. The people of Manipur have been rejecting their representatives, thereby underlining the understanding that in a democracy the ultimate power lies with the people and no one else.

These changes however appear artificial and hollow in the context of the fact that nothing has changed and if at all there are any changes then it has only been for the worse. There has to be a reason why changes in the choice of the people have not resulted in any change for the betterment of the people or the land.

A quick look at the election scenario will no one in doubt that all these changes have been effected by considerations which have nothing whatsoever to do with performance.

It has never been issues which have decided people's choice for a candidate. Rather it has always been factors such as bank balance of the aspiring candidates, muscle power, especially in the hill districts, the fate of the political parties at Delhi etc which have always played a more important role than anything to do with accountability of the people's representatives.

It is therefore not surprising to see the Congress on a roll at Imphal. Remember how it was in the wilderness when the NDA was in power in Delhi and remember how the MSCP basked in the reflected glory of the BJP by virtue of being a partner in the NDA ?

Election manifestoes, the ideology of a party, the question of performance or non-performance have never counted for much in the decision making process of the voter for down the years they have been lulled into believing that performance, accountability, effective administration are goals which can be ensured only be going for the party which holds sway at Delhi.

The indifference of the Centre towards the State all these years is also responsible for giving credence to this mindset.

The warped understanding or expectations from the political leaders is such that the standard of governance or performance has today come to be understood within the parameter of how much contract work and supply order the local MLA or Minister can award to the local people.

A look at the election related incidents in recent times, such as the war of words, the exchange of verbal diatribes, the emergence of overnight social workers are all indications of a political system taking root to such an extent that a look at the factors which have always decided who should be elected or not need a revamp or else the last vestige of hope for Manipur may be lost forever.