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No Alternative
All's well that ends well. At least that can now be said as far as the first phase of the elections to the 8th Manipur Legislative Assembly is concerned. There were 31
re-polls made necessary, but by the standard of Indian elections, there is nothing very much to be alarmed about this. Thing have been and could have been much worse. Given the circumstance, the best policy would be to relax and take solace in the fact that things did not go as wrong at it could have.
The first phase of the elections having thus passed by, the focus now understandably shifted to the second phase elections in the 20 hills constituencies, 19 of which are reserved and one general. We hope this phase too passes off peacefully, although, the disturbances to the election process here has been much graver than in the valley so far.
This is despite the fact that the valley has seen much more overt violence than the hills.
It may be recalled that two candidates in Chandel district have had to withdraw from the polls under controversial circumstances, and this itself has robbed the competition of a great degree of the all-important sense of
fair play. Much has already been written about this episode already, and it is also learnt that the matter has been put up before the Election Commission of India for arbitration, and we trust the venerable institution knows what is its best line of action in the regard.
Our appeal, on the other hand, would be to call for voters' discretion in the remaining phase of the elections. They must act, if it needs any reminder, with the conviction that they have their future in their own hands.
But more than this, we would also like to remind the voter that since the juggernaut of elections has been set rolling, and as long as it keeps rolling, there is very little choice but to participate in it. There can be little difference if a voter refrains from voting, and indeed, on the issue of elections, the act of not voting is in itself a choice, although a very passive one. It actually amounts to deciding to leave one's future totally and unreservedly to others, for regardless of the percentage of votes polled, the juggernaut will roll on.
The Naga electorate, in Nagaland and in Manipur, who boycotted the last two elections, ought to have realized this, and hopefully this time they will participate with the rest in electing their representatives to the government. For in the end, as they must have found out, the boycotts did not really amount to any difference. And even if there have been any, all we can say is that they have been to their disadvantage only. We hope too that they will not allow anybody to undermine their intelligence or their ability to decide who amongst their leaders can best represent them, and continue to act as per the direction of their free will and conscience.
Persuasions and dissuasions through appeals to the individual's rationale are perfectly legitimate and in fact needs encouragement. For after all, democracy, as they say, is rule by debate. However, at all cost, coercion must be resisted and defeated. Remember the election is by the secret ballot and the election authorities must ensure that this remains so. The final act of the voter in the polling booth must be a secret as well as sacred communion between himself, his conscience, heart and mind only.
(Courtesy: The Imphal Free Press) |
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