The Meghalaya election 2023 is only a few days away and the fate of the 334 candidates will soon be determined by the public. The last few hours of campaigning is here and political parties are burning the midnight oil and leaving no stone unturned to reach the electorate with their agenda and appeal for votes. The election wave in the State is comparatively very different from the ones before. This could be due to the forces from political parties hitherto unknown to the state and are currently gaining momentum at a pace no one expected; with the Trinamool Congress (TMC), though a stranger to the land, dominating the media platform both print and electronic; the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) with its bigwigs from the Central government storming the political scene and enticing the public with their commitments; the Indian National Congress (INC) upping their game from scratch to face its formidable opponents; the National People’s Party’s (NPP) attempt in defending their maiden regime, the uproar of Ardent Basaiawmoit’s untested and untried Voice of the People Party (VPP) with his army of intellectuals winning the hearts of the netizens at least; and the regional parties breaking every sweat to secure their party’s representation to the House.
The one point of difference is the content of the manifestos of all these political parties. A handful of freebies and cash transfers from various parties are something that caught the eye of the voter, especially the hand to mouth wage earner. Promises like these are firstly impractical and secondly will choke the already constrained financial situation of the state, drowning it into an ocean of debt. Though seemingly different on paper and on the podium, all the manifestos of all the parties circle around the same indicators of growth and development and the actualisation of the same is equally questionable.
The issues of youth unemployment, infrastructure, women safety, clean governance, rural development are the pillars around which these manifestos revolve, though the approach is different from one party to another. Not to forget the bonus claim of being the guardian of the ‘Jaitbynriew’, a jackpot that every party wants to flirt with. The ‘vote for change’ slogan that every candidate claims to bring has become the only common factor that the parties agree on but nobody knows anymore what ‘Change’ is.
At a single glance into the political parties’ mission statement, one could say that there would be a holistic growth and development in the State irrespective of which party comes into power as they all have impeccable policies with no pitfall and that they are the most efficient party to run a state. Truth be told, the reality post victory is mostly, if not always, the other way round and pledges plummet into thin air. Ultimately, the brunt is borne by the poor marginalised section of the society whose innocence is duped by promises and hopes crushed.
As much as I believe in the significance of a good policy for good governance, I am also of the opinion that this is overrated. Extensive propagation of a political manifesto prior to a poll will jeopardise the quality of representation. This will only turn the election process into a political game played by the people, for the people and to the people and fail to achieve the purpose of a democratic election. The result would give the people a representative who is a politician and not a statesman, a commander with a mission and not a leader with a vision, a man of the party and not a man of the people.
If change is what we desire to see, it is high time that we the electorates start looking at the human aspect and do away with the political aspect. We should not be blinded and misled by the promises that political parties throw at us nor should we be bought by their sudden generosity. Every vote matters and so is the choice of the vote. What is more important than a manifesto is a person who could take those policies from its black and white format and transform them into reality. So it is on us to choose one from the many who is the most competent in every aspect be it personal, psychological, social, emotional or intellectual and who actually possesses the quality of a good public representative – integrity, intelligence, courage, humility, dedication and love for the people.
If all constituencies could produce such representatives to the legislative assembly, regardless of the political party they affiliate themselves to, I am certain that Meghalaya would be better off than where we are now even after 50 years of statehood. It is then logical to assume that these representatives will legislate, execute and implement laws and policies that would bring the State to better heights. The circle of corruption would be broken and the spirit of democracy would prevail. For at the end, we reap what we sow.
