A Clarion Call for Stability & Development: Mandate For Change: Dynamics of Electoral Politics in Manipur

By: Bhabananda Takhellambam

By Abu Nasar Saied Ahmed, Elizabeth Devi Kh, Maqbul Ali & Ratna Bhuyan, Omeo Kumar Das Institute of Social Change and Development & Akansha Publishing House, New Delhi, 2008, 222 pp., Rs 700. ISBN 978-81-8370-173-0

Electoral politics, the ideas and actions behind the process of choosing by vote among candidates to govern the state is a vital part of the democratic functioning of the state. In this regard one can say that the higher the level of electorate politics, the more conscious the electorates are. And what guides the consciousness for active electorate politics, the factors are multifaceted, and are peculiar to that society. Manipur by the sheer percentage of turnout in every election, sometimes over 90% and on an average above 80% can safely be put to a level of highly sensitive voters. This is to say that there is a high level of political consciousness in the state.
Before one starts to analyze what determines the consciousness of the electorates of Manipur as to put forward a clear mandate (for change) as projected by the voters in this book, one needs to know certain particulars about the working of democracy in the larger context as in India, and where Manipur fits in that context. Basically, India was blessed with the nation and the form of governance with the coming of the British colonial rule. The legacy of the parliamentary form of government still continues, though it had its share of challenges. In the recent past the struggle for power between the Indian National Congress and the All India Muslim League led to the division of British India into India and Pakistan. Further the new India was challenged by some princely states that were reluctant to join the Indian union. When persuasions failed and with no alternatives acceptable to the Government of India, it used an iron hand in integrating the princely states to the Indian union.
The trauma of these challenges, three wars with Pakistan and internal armed conflicts, is still reflected in the working of the Indian Democracy, India have become a highly centralized democratic country. Another feature of Indian democracy is the dynastic dominations in the political leaderships, prevalent in South Asia. Thus the manifestation and operationalization of Indian democracy became a mixture of Indian values of caste/hegemonic domination with liberal western thoughts. Since Manipur functions as a unit within the larger context of Indian democratic setup, it has its reflections. Even for choosing a leader in the Congress party of Manipur, it has to take the permission and so blessings from the high commands in New Delhi. This is not just the symptoms within the party but affects the electorates too, that’s why in the elections of 2007 one could witness the rush of the big ‘star’ campaigners of the Congress party.
It is important to understand to material conditions of the society that would determine the consciousness of the people and thus what their mandate is. The book in the introduction gives a ‘Panoramic view of Manipur’. Describing the geography of the state, it starts with ‘Switzerland of the east’, quoted by Jawaharlal Nehru. The demography of the state is profiled in an excellent manner with tables which includes ‘Religion-wise percentage of population in Northeast’, Percentage ‘District-wise breakup of Religious composition of the Population of Manipur’, ‘District-wise distribution of Population of Manipur’ besides the ‘Basic Demographic Statistics of Manipur’. What is interesting or more pertinent for the analysis of the mandate is ‘The Political Scenario’. Here the historical events that have shaped Manipur as it is now are summed up in brief. Some of the important events are; the uninterrupted Dynastic rule of the Ningthouja clan, ‘76 kings’ from 33 AD till 1891, as a sovereign independent kingdom in South Asia, the events of 1891, when Manipur lost her sovereignty and became a part of British India, the (imposition) of the Treaty of Yandaboo in February 24, 1826 when Manipur lost the Kabaw Valley to Burma, (still nostalgic to the hearts of the people). Then the sequences of events that led to present status like, the regaining of ‘sovereignty’ from the British rule, the Manipur State Constitution Act of 1947, the controversial Merger (annexation) of Manipur in 1949 are discussed.
The ‘Politics of Defection in Manipur’ discusses the events of floor-crossing, horse-trading that began by 1963. “In a span of 35 years (1967 – 2002) Manipur has seen eight Chief Ministers” and “as many as 25 ministries”, is a clear indication of the fluidity of the political situation in Manipur. What is interesting is that “none of them (Chief Ministers) completed full terms”. ‘A brief history of insurgency in Manipur’ explains the causes and consequences, like the imposition of Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act 1958 and the question of Nagalim. The causes of insurgency are inextricably related with the historical events like that of 1947 and 1949. Though the seeds of insurgency were sown in the 50’s, the period beginning 70’s is regarded to be the beginning of the armed struggle against the Indian state, “… Maoist guerrilla fighters… India’s first spell of urban insurgency and Asia’s second, after Saigon”. UNLF (United National Liberation Front) was formed in 1964, followed by PLA (People’s Liberation Army) in 1978, now more than 30 insurgent outfits operate in Manipur. This explains the grave situation of the state. As a reaction to the rise of insurgents, the Government of Manipur declared Manipur as Disturbed Area in 1890 and imposed the infamous Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act 1958 that gave rise to the question of human security in the state.
Though the cause of insurgency is linked with the historical development, what sustains insurgency, to many analysts is underdevelopment that dogged the region, including Manipur. The second chapter on the ‘Economy of Manipur’ details the deteriorating state of the economy which is a reflection of its underdevelopment. ‘A historical glimpse’ of the economy is provided, how Manipur’s ancient institutionalized labour system called the ‘lallup’ was transformed by the British rule into a system of taxation in 1892, which followed the monetization of the economy. Funds, budgets, statistics and charts may be deceiving but the reality is that with poor infrastructure in terms of connectivity and lawlessness, the economy of Manipur is in doldrums. Thus “underdevelopment and insurgency’ has become two sides of the same coin. So it is the favourite and ‘opportunity to all the contestants to place before the electorate their agenda for economic development of the state” and thus to handle the insurgency related crisis through development and performance”.
The election records of the past beginning with the electorate college of 1952 are detailed meticulously till 2002, with appropriate tables of each election in the third chapter, ‘The Pre-election Heat’. As a prelude to 1952 election, with the enactment of the Manipur State Constitution Act of 1947, the first election in Manipur “took place in June-July 1948”. “It was a historic event, for, it was the first time ever election based on universal adult franchise soon after British had left”, four years ahead of India’s first general elections of 1951-52. With the merger of Manipur, as a part of Indian Union, the first election as part C state was “held in 1952 as per the provisions of Indian constitution and on party line”. “The electorate college was converted into Territorial Council on January 1, 1957” and elections as Territorial Council were held in 1962 & 1972. In 1972, “the status of statehood was conferred upon Manipur 23 years of its formal merger. Since then Manipur had held eight elections in 1972, 1974, 1980, 1984, 1990, 1995, 2000 & 2002.
Certain features of the elections trends are visible in these elections. “The most striking aspect of election trend in Manipur is the low polling in favour of regional parties”. Another aspect is with high percentage turnout of women voters, in every elections, and dismal performances of women contestants. The reasons according to the authors for the high turnout is due to “the presence of women in all walks of life”, and “because of the air of festivity on the day of the poll (where) women would like to make their presence felt with their best attire”. And on the reason why women fail miserable, in the land of Meira Paibis, is because “ they (women voters) are prone to be influenced by the male members of the family to caste in favour of candidates on the latter’s choice, in which female members have the least to say”.
With the announcement of election dates, there was hectic rush for party tickets to contest the election, especially most of the contestants seeking the Congress tickets. One of the most important reasons was Congress was the ruling party at the centre as well as in the state. Congress means the age-old tried and tested party with dynastic inheritance. So Congress could utilize most resources – money as well as manpower to retain the government. Naturally the contestants felt of a sure shoot victory if they contest with a Congress ticket. However, Congress was challenged this time in 2007 by a strong regional force led by Manipur People’s Party (MPP) and by United Naga Council (UNC), a flagship organization of National Socialist Council of Nagalim NSCN (IM).
The “Alliance formation and Issues” of election campaign used by the parties are detailed in chapter fourth. The MPP in 2007 was able to group together the regional forces under its banner and put up a strong challenge to the Congress Party. Another strong challenge was put up by UNC. These two regional parties worked in ‘diametrically opposite issues’ while the MPP its allies put up the territorial integrity of the state, the UNC put up the Naga issue of NSCN (IM)’s long cherished dream of Nagalim, unification of all Naga inhabited areas of Manipur. “Too many issues obfuscated the electorate in the Assembly 2007 election … to bring out a list of issues for public consumption and for an action-oriented agenda to be perused, if its candidates are returned to Assembly”. Some of the important issues are; the question of Territorial Integrity of Manipur, on the withdrawal of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act 1958, solutions to the ongoing insurgency, the need to improve surface connectivity, establishment of Highway Protection Force, measures to tackle power shortage, rejuvenating the Rural Economy, on Industries, Trade and Commerce, materialization and benefits of India’s Look East Policy, quality in Education, Health, Women and Child Development, the issues of Minority, Other Backward Classes, Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes, Art and Culture, Games and Sports and others. These issues are not common to all the parties and each party chose their priorities of one issue over the other. Some parties vigorously push forward on certain issue, while at the same issue another party chose to remain silent. This was the vistas opened to all the electorates and they would choose what they want that would make their mandate clear.
Based on these issues, the election campaign ‘began vigorously in later part of 2006, when the three important issues figured in public domain- viz, the demand for the repeal of AFSPA, the territorial integrity of the state and the need to sustain the current political stability for the all-round development of the state. The prelude to campaign (nominations), the campaign, star campaigners for each parties, poll related violence are discussed in the fifth chapter, ‘Campaign’. The theme on the role of Media, Militant groups during the campaign and the role of Civil Society are also discussed. “The nomination process traverses a tricky and slippery path… the new entrants in the election fray has to move from pillar to post, to impress the party hierarchy in order to get nominations’. The star campaigners for the Congress were, “the Congress President and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi (who) came to Manipur twice for election campaigning” and the Prime Minister of India Dr. Manmohan Singh. Others were Oscar Fernandez, Union Minister and AICC General Secretary in charge of North East and Union Minister P.R. Kindiah. Regarding the involvement of militant groups during the campaign, NSCN (IM) got itself fully involved, starting from nomination, intimidation to “its dictatorial activities”.
The sixth chapter, ‘Decisive turnout and Mandate’ demonstrates people consciousness of electoral politics and their decisive mandate. “The turnout, as expected was high, though lower than that of 2002 by 3.65% but still significantly higher with 86.73%, out of which the female votes (86.82%) were higher than the male counterparts (85.88%). Election was held in three phases. The first phase, most sensitive ones where NSCN (IM) sponsored UNC’s strong hold, held on February 8, 2007 set the mood for the electorate whose turnout (88.95%) was a spectacular demonstration of faith of the overwhelming majority in parliamentary democracy. “The speculation was that the UNC supported candidates would sweep the elections in all the 11 constituencies, where it had stakes in political and demographic terms”. On the contrary only 6 UNC supported candidates could capture power.
The second phase of election on February 14 which covered most of the valley constituencies, predominantly inhabited by Meiteis reported a heavy turnout. And subsequently, “the final phase slated for February 23 (was) easy and resounding”. “The political consciousness among the voters was not only reflected in terms of heavy turnout but in the least instances of invalid voting; only 373 votes (0.03) were found invalid”. “The message was loud and clear. The people of Manipur have demonstrated… their strong faith in elections held under the provisions of constitution of India”. What is interesting is, “the secessionist forces, too joined the fray, and by implications registered their allegiance to the constitution and its operative mechanism...” This demonstrated the failure of regionalism and triumph of nationalism.
The argument that “regionalism has hardly any future in Manipur led to hypothesize that the Assembly elections in 2007 had given a decisive mandate on two issues, the first is the rejection of the concept of Nagalim even in Naga inhabited areas”. This according to Prof. Gangmumei Kamei, “was a kind of referendum against the issue of Nagalim and for the territorial unity and integrity of the state of Manipur”. Second, “the 2007 elections rejected decisively the idea of sovereign state of Manipur and accepted the merger of the state with the union of India 58 years back as a fait accompli”. On the issue of the failure of regional parties under MPP, “the victory of the Congress exposes the weakness of opposition parties - both national and regional”. However, “the most notable reason for the failure is that the common people suspected the political steadfastness and integrity of the leaders of MPP”, who “were compulsive floor-crossers and deserters”.
The book concludes that in a federal “structure like that of India, the federating states enjoys enormous powers”. The elections of 2007, “is a clear indication (by the participation) of the commoners’ allegiance to the constitution of the country”. This verifies the hypothesis that; people voted Congress and brought them back to power (earning 30 seats out of 60 seats) because only Congress could provide a stable government in Manipur shown for the first time in 2002 elections, that too since 1967. But another thing that one should keep in mind is that the Anti-Defection Law was also one of the main reasons. Second is that NSCN (IM)’s threat to “free and fair elections” was won over by the people’s mandate. Third the “rally of regional sentiment” was routed as they could registrar only 5 seats out of 36 seats contested. Then AFSPA receded in the background and the issue of development gathered momentum as electioneering reached the peak. “To state precisely the issue of development, so intrinsically associated with the political stability in the state, sidelined the other two (Nagalim and AFSPA) politically charged issues”.
This book represents the class in its own. What is exceptional is the detailed history of election politics, the narrative as well as the analytical profiles of all the elections ever held in the state. The philosophical deduction on what guides the consciousness of the electorate is the realities of underdevelopment intertwined with political instability. This is intrinsically related with the issue of insurgency and its fallouts like AFSPA and Nagalim. To the outside world, the issue of AFSPA and Nagalim seems to have preoccupied the states, but in the minds of the people, it was stability and development, “the popular mandate was decisive for stability and development, and hence much needed change in the political culture of the state … the perspective of the state actors need orientation. It has to engage in a paradigm shift from security obsession to development commitment... the policy makers need to prioritize the development agenda over security agenda.
‘AFSPA & Nagalim’ exist in the ideological plane of the people of the state but the material conditions of the society guided the consciousness of the people and hence manifested itself in the ‘stability and development’ of the state.

The author can be contacted at: iscorpio@live.com