Editor,
I remember elections in Meghalaya during the early years after we attained statehood, people used to say, ”Ynda niew na ki pliang ja te lah dei ban jop” (If you count the number of lunch/dinner plates in a candidate’s house there is a possibility of winning” . From those days we have now graduated, in almost all constituencies, to people asking how much money a candidate has to ‘buy’ votes.
According to my observations through the years, the MLA/MP schemes (public money) have been one of the main reasons that have spoiled the level playing field for all those aspiring to contest the elections for the state assemblies and parliament and now for the autonomous district councils (ADCs) too. This scheme gives an added advantage to the sitting MDCs/MLAs/MPs who often use it in abundance at the fag end of their term to have a more lasting political impact in their favour. From when it started till now the amount has increased multiple times, now running into crores of rupees per year for five years. For those candidates who have the desire to serve but do not have the desired wealth, it is an uphill task if not an impossible one.
But in the implementation of the scheme, we have witnessed that on multiple occasions, apart from spending on footpaths, drains and other works, most of the money has been used in distributing freebies to the electorate. This has therefore encouraged people with enough money to enter the electoral arena with the intention to use money power to buy their way to win the elections by matching if not exceeding at times the money power of the MDC/MLA/MP schemes. And with the majority of our electorate who are still living below the poverty line, the pickings are ripe for money power to play a key role in elections today.
I had earlier filed a PIL against this scheme on the grounds that it violated the principle of separation of powers especially between the executive and the legislature. This PIL was later taken up by the Supreme Court along with three other PILs on the same subject from different states of India. Lack of financial resources however prevented me from pursuing this case. The Supreme Court later issued guidelines for their implementation. But with lack of monitoring, their implementation raises a lot of questions.
The Mait Shaphrang had tried to interact with the electorate about the importance of the Vote by staging a drama titled, “Phi Vote! Phi Rai – 1” (You Vote, You Decide) aired over Shillong DDK on the 10th February 2003 and after five years, it was aired through local cable networks on 29th February, 2008 and 2nd March, 2008.
To counter this money power in elections, some have written and others have spoken in public platforms urging the voters to take the money offered to them by the candidates during the election campaigns, but to apply their minds who is the most capable candidate to lead the State before they cast their votes so that they will not regret later, because when they vote they decide not only their children’s future but the future of the State as well.
Therefore in conclusion, it does not matter whosoever offers money to woo the voters, I would like to remind the voters the famous quote by Lao Tzu, founder of Taoism, “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach him how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime”.
Michael N. Syiem,
Shillong.
