Monday Musing
[ Bengia Ajum ]
As the election nears, the issue of money culture is once again becoming a hot topic in the state. Literally, every sitting MLA and their potential rival candidates are desperately trying to consolidate their bank balances as the election fever starts to grip the state. Such is the situation that in every assembly constituency, only rich businessmen and government officials, particularly engineers, are in demand as candidates. Going by the present trend, there is literally no space for the people who joined grassroots politics with the hope of one day becoming an MLA or an MP.
The Arunachal Christian Forum (ACF), an influential Christian body, has been making noise against the money culture for some time. However, more is needed to curb the money culture. For the money culture to end, first of all, the people of Arunachal have to change their mindset. Instead of checking the bank balance of the candidates, they should check their manifesto. People should realise that once they take money in exchange for votes, they are selling their voice for the next five years. For the period of five years, they have to keep mum, even if the elected representatives do not carry out any developmental work.
Secondly, political parties should be bold enough to give tickets to those who don’t have money. Strangely, even parties like the ruling BJP, which claims to be a party with a difference, have been following the trend of giving tickets only to rich candidates in the state. Very few grassroots workers were given tickets in the last election by the saffron party. It is seen that even those people who are very vocal about money culture change their tone during elections. When the election comes, it is all about money and clan-based politics. This goes very much against the democratic ethos. The money culture is becoming a serious concern for entire Arunachal, but more so in the Nyishi belt. It all started when contractors who made a lot of free money from the PDS scam started to pump massive money during the assembly election. Since then, it has only gone from bad to worse.
In the 2019 election, in certain assembly constituencies, it was quoted that candidates spent more than Rs 80 crore each. This is huge money for a state like Arunachal, which is totally dependent on central funds for survival. The candidate who won must still be recouping the money and also making some profit to prepare for the next election. This is crazy and will only hurt the state in the long run. People seriously need to introspect. Charity begins at home, and therefore, families should pledge that they won’t take money during elections. They should vote based on the candidate’s work and potential, rather than selling themselves to the highest bidder. Also, it will be interesting to see how political parties distribute tickets in the coming election. Will bank balance determine candidature or personality?
