The invisible election

There are two issues that signal a change. First, the widening 8216;ethnic8217; division, particularly between the people in the valley and hills, enters the election arena. Votaries of the demand for a 8216;unified Naga homeland8217;, which includes the five hill districts of Manipur into 8216;Greater Nagaland8217; or Nagalim, call for ensuring 8220;the return of responsible candidates8230; who will represent the Naga aspirations8221;. In fact, the United Naga Council UNC, while stating that 8220;some of the most strident critics who function against the aspiration of the Nagas are themselves Naga representatives MLAs/ministers in the Manipur Legislative Assembly8221;, has called upon the 8216;Nagas of Manipur8217; to elect the independent candidates 8216;sponsored8217; by it. Just a few days before the election, these 8216;independent candidates8217; formed an alliance called the United Naga Democratic Front UNDF.

This move has been received with reservations in some quarters in these hill districts, such as the Congress Committee Nungba Block, Tamenglong District and Langol Village Authority. Besides, the other non-Naga communities in the hills are understandably not likely to accept such a move. Given that a national political party like the Congress is contesting all the seats in the state and there are others in the fray, though some have 8216;withdrawn8217; their candidature, these developments underscore the split in the politics in the hills of Manipur. However, the split is more palpable and significant in terms of the divide between the valley and hills.

In the valley, the issue of the 8216;territorial integrity of Manipur8217; becomes the other side of the issue of 8216;Naga integration8217; or 8216;unified Naga homeland8217; in the hills. This was the issue that almost brought the entire state machinery to a standstill in 2001. Thus, understandably, major national political parties have committed to the protection of the 8216;territorial integrity8217; of the state in their election manifestos. However, the effort to capitalise on the issue by the Manipur Peoples Party MPP 8212; a regional party which seems to be enjoying a new resurgence with many political heavyweights joining it, notably former Chief Minister R.K. Dorendro and former Lok Sabha member Th. Chaoba 8212; is a significant development. Observers point out that if the 8220;Naga constituencies are seen as swinging the UNC way, it is very likely to have an equal and opposite reaction in non-Naga constituencies, particularly amongst the Meiteis in the valley8221;. Such an opposite swing may benefit the MPP, a party that, unlike in the past, has become primarily a valley-based party.

Two, the notorious Armed Forces Special Powers Act AFSPA has become an election issue, particularly in the valley. In the aftermath of the custodial killing of a young Manipuri woman, and subsequent agitation including self-immolation and the disrobing by elderly women in the heart of Imphal, it has gripped the state. In an election rally, Congress President Sonia Gandhi said that the Centre is studying the Reddy Committee Report which has reportedly recommended scrapping the Act. Most parties, except the Congress and the Rashtriya Janata Dal, have included the issue in their manifesto. Beyond the election, too, the AFPSA is likely to haunt the 9th Legislative Assembly.

In this election, therefore, questions of the geo-political identity of Manipur and the dominant paradigm of governance, namely the security perspective, have been brought into focus through the issues of 8216;Naga homeland8217;/ 8216;territorial integrity8217; and the controversy over the AFSPA. Both have a crucial bearing on the state8217;s future. But the basic questions of corruption, infrastructure and underdevelopment could not climb onto the political stage.

The writer is a social and political psychologist at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, Delhi

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