Be it state assembly or parliamentary, elections in Manipur had never been about issues. In the case of state assembly elections, it was mostly about personalities or who doles out more. Well, the question of who is in power in New Delhi also matters to a great extent in both assembly and parliamentary elections. It is indeed a reflection of the dependency syndrome, as state political leaders go on ignoring the need to generate state’s own resources to run the economy and see going to New Delhi with a begging bowl the easier way out. So, they paint a dreary picture of utter helplessness and try to inject the inescapable need of kow-towing to the ‘powers that be’ at the Centre. They are not at all ashamed of seeking votes in the name of whoever is in power in New Delhi, be it the BJP or the Congress.
Economic historians say, we had a surplus economy with enough foodgrains for export when the Britishers left the state in 1947. However, Manipur became impoverished with a dependent economy after it merged into India. The 1972 assembly elections were one such occasion when statehood brought the regional party Manipur Peoples Party (MPP) to power. The dependence on Central largesse served as a death-knell for the regional party. The party is now out of reckoning and rudderless with pretenders fighting over the plot of land in the heart of Imphal city. After a few years, party-hopping came into the scene with MLAs changing party loyalties at the drop of a hat which heralded the era of anti-defection law.
Then, the movement for territorial integrity became a recurring issue in the state and in fact it was instrumental in propelling the present Chief Minister N Biren Singh and former MP Dr Meinya Singh of Democratic Revolutionary Peoples Party (DRPP) into the state assembly in the 2002 elections. Shortly afterwards, the two axe-wielding MLAs merged into the Congress party. In spite of the anti-defection law and its restrictions, defections were quite common. Yet, the law helped former Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh in consolidating his hold on the Congress party for 15 years. In the 2007 state elections, the Congress was successful in projecting itself as a party committed to a gradual lifting of the controversial Armed Forces Special Powers Act, 1958 as it had withdrawn it from the Greater Imphal area after the 2004 anti-AFSPA movement.
The anti-AFSPA movement ignited by the Manorama incident not only led to lifting of the Act from the Greater Imphal area which has seven assembly constituencies, but restoration of the Kangla Fort over to the state government by the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. In 2010, the Okram Ibobi Singh defied the then Union Home Minister P Chidambaram in stopping the NSCN (I-M) supremo Thuingaleng Muivah from entering Manipur at Mao Gate and the steadfast stand taken by his government perhaps helped him in returning to power once again for the third time in 2012 state assembly elections. But come 2017 elections, the BJP election machinery came in full force on the anti-incumbency factor and the issues of corruption scandals and fake encounters and managed to overturn the tables.
Now the question comes as to what are the basic issues confronting the Manipur people as the nation goes to polls this time. The issue of AFSPA has come up from unexpected quarters as the Kuki-Zo CSOs have put in a demand for imposition in the valley districts in retaliation to the demand of valley CSOs calling for abrogation of SoO with Kuki armed outfits. Well, the Naga CSOs had also voiced such a demand but not as vociferously as the Kuki groups. So, what are the real issues which the general public feels it important to be on the table? It is not the other way round, as the political leaders seem to think so.
We could lay on the table several issues like Narco-terrorism, illegal infiltration, Free Movement Regime (FMR), Naga integration, separate administration, National Register of Citizens (NRC), CAA, SoO violations, Scheduled Tribe demand for the Meiteis, and last but not the least, peace and development. We somehow feel that right now, resolution of the conflict and ushering in peace in the state seems to be uppermost in the minds of people, and that it has escaped the mind of the political leaders.
