Moa Jamir
With the Nagaland Legislative Assembly likely going to poll in one year time, the discussions on ‘clean election’ are gaining traction in both private and public spheres. During a recent interaction, an ‘influential’ person associated with the government of the day candidly noted that the official account of electioneering in Nagaland drastically differs from ground realities. Among others, the concerned individual disagreed with the high percentage of voting as well as ‘clean and fair’ elections that have had occurred as per the official account. The media in the state were also faulted for not highlighting such issues.
As a practising media professional, one unequivocally concurs that often the official version does not reflect the ground realities. However, hardly any actions are taken on discrepancies highlighted by the media regarding electoral malpractices particularly of proxy-voting during the poll day. In essence, the officials ‘seems’ to be keener on highlighting the high turnout of voters and conclusion of the electoral process without any major untoward incidents, thereby checking the criteria of conducting a ‘free and fair' election.
In addition, while election in Nagaland is known to be a costly exercise, official expenditure disclosures from the candidates suggest it to be a frugal affair. For instance, an analysis of 158 expenditure affidavits submitted by candidates to the State Electoral Office after the election to the 13th NLA by The Morung Express in April 2018 informed that their combined expenses were hardly Rs 10 crore.
Elsewhere, however, a study conducted by YouthNet in December 2018 estimated that 196 candidates cumulatively spent a whopping Rs 1,060 crore during the same election. Incidentally, the study found that spending ‘dipped’ slightly from previous elections.
Periodic elections are considered one of the most important components of modern democratic society. However, the existence of electoral malpractices -both tangible and intangible- has sullied the exercise in the state. No longer an open secret, several efforts have been undertaken to cure the maladies, but the problem still persists.
The most prominent being the “Clean Election Campaign’ (CEC) spearheaded by the Nagaland Baptist Church Council (NBCC), first launched in 2012, and revived before each election in the State. The official State machinery too runs parallel campaigns, particularly the Systematic Voters Education & Electoral Participation (SVEEP) activities. The editors of 7 daily newspapers based in Nagaland on November 21, 2016, also publicly aired their commitment to the CEC by agreeing to “immediately stop publishing any news and advertisements that contradicts the values and objectives of “Clean Elections in Nagaland,” and the principle of ‘One Person – One Vote.” The commitment still holds.
Nevertheless, the dichotomy of expenditures cited earlier is symptomatic of both tangible and intangible challenges that stand as an obstacle in ensuring a ‘clean and fair election’ in Nagaland.
One of the core issues is governance. The CEC is not only about selling votes, open declaration or proxy voting. As long as development is seen as bestowing someone or region a favour, and not as a rightful claim of the citizen, the malpractices will continue while bureaucrats and those at the helms of affairs take advantage of the situation as a springboard for their political career.
Pride – of various kinds – come before a clean election in Nagaland, one can safely assert. This is one outcome of apparent lack of governance or more precisely, equitable governance. Consequently, as long as the election is considered as a fight for pride, not for choosing good leaders for collective development, the challenges would remain. Apart from focusing on the voters, it is also imperative to look at the commitment of candidates, political parties and other external factors.
As a main initiator of the campaigns, churches must also recover their moral authority and must not be seen as an alleged ‘collaborator’ or turning a blind eye to other corrupt practices in the State. It demands, among others, active involvement of churches not only in spiritual matters but upliftment of the socio-economic status of the congregation. Many other issues remain, necessitating a more holistic approach to CEC.
For any election related matters, drop a line to jamir.moa@gmail.com
