Karate fighters wait for their opponents to attack so that they can counter and win the fight. Muay Thai fighters know only how to attack and in the fierce battle the one who can fight well in a chaos wins. The later resembles the recently held Manipur elections. Candidates and workers were not aware of the procedures. Campaigning was allowed and there was no restrictions on holding meetings however there were few meetings. Candidates complained that they had to submit details of the meetings in advance, numbers of chairs, etc which caused problems. The end result was; there were little political meetings and people were not able to listen to what the candidates had to say. Election fanfares were not seen though there were lots of bomb attacks and threats. Interventions of the NSCN were at its peak in some hill areas. Most candidates complained that they hardly knew most of the candidates or seen them. How will the voters who have not seen or heard about the candidates choose the right candidate. The focus was on limiting the expenditures of candidates. The primary focus should be making people aware about the election process. Some candidates openly declared they had lots of money and would pour money on voters before the day of voting. The main point of discussion was how much money the candidates had not what they can do for the people. People’s awareness is low and there are few who can resist the temptation of taking Rs 500 or Rs 1000 notes to cast their votes. In short votes were purchased. Democracy will be meaningful only when there is proper election. Election schedule was announced in a hurry and everything was held in such a swift manner that serious candidates were dumbfounded. Candidates who know the Muay Thai style of elections well perform well. Manipur has a long history of elections and before Manipur was part of the Indian Union under the Manipur Constitution Act, 1947 elections were held in June 1948. It had to wait for several years until it became part of India in 1949 and general elections to the first Lok Sabha were held in India were held between 25 October 1951 and 21 February 1952. The voting percentage of the country is much lesser than those of Manipur. In the first Parliamentary elections of the country the voting percentage was 44.87 . In the last general elections the voter turnout was around 59.7 percent. Country wide debates have started for the next Presidential elections in the US. Capabilities and even private life of the candidates are scrutinized by the people constantly for a long period of time. Good leaders emerge from such process of elections. We want elections to be held properly and we want the election commission to frame a policy. where voters have to vote without fear or influence of money or power. Poverty and illiteracy must be the main hurdle in a free and fair election. In Manipur we can not think of anything else but good power supply so that we can watch candidates debate important issues.
Read more / Original news source: http://manipur-mail.com/winners-in-chaos/
