The hour has come for us to decide not with emotion, but with wisdom. This election must not be reduced to a contest of flags – BJP vs Congress vs NPF. Flags do not heal the sick. Party symbols do not build roads. Slogans do not secure our villages.
For too long, we have been treated as instructed voters. The Consensus Forum calls upon every household, every village council, every church and every youth to become informed voters.
We place before every candidate, without censorship, without fear, and without hypocrisy, the three questions that matter most.
This election is historic because we are not judging strangers. We are judging incumbents who have held power.
A fact that must be stated truthfully, without hypocrisy
Let us state the record lawfully, logically and factually.
All incumbent MLAs in 43-Phungyar, 44-Ukhrul and 45-Chingai are NPF MLAs.
In 43-Phungyar and 45-Chingai, it is their second term – they have completed 10 years in power as our representatives.
And this is not only about our three constituencies. Almost all the Naga MLAs of Manipur are NPF MLAs, and all of them are completing 10 years, or two terms, as MLAs. Some among them have served as Ministers and some are still serving as Deputy Chief Minister. They have not been in opposition. They have been in power, in the ruling Government as an alliance partner of the BJP-led NDA both in Manipur, Nagaland and at the Centre.
And there is one more record that must be stated with deep pain and political honesty: In the previous term, the MP for Outer Manipur Parliamentary Constituency, which represents all Naga areas of Manipur, was also from NPF. He was sent by us with great hope to be our voice in the highest temple of democracy – the Parliament of India. But unfortunately, what did we see? For five long years, the NPF MP did not speak anything substantial for the Nagas in general and the Nagas of Manipur in particular. He did not speak forcefully for an honourable and inclusive solution to the protracted Indo-Naga political talks. He did not demand implementation of the Framework Agreement of 2015. He did not speak for the welfare and wellbeing of the Nagas of Manipur. He did not fight for implementation of Article 371C in the hill areas of Manipur in letter and in spirit.
For five long years, our MP sat as a mute spectator, a silent statue in Parliament, while our issues were ignored. And today, the former MP himself has left NPF and joined another regional political party. This is the ultimate proof that power without purpose is meaningless. If an MP from NPF, backed by MLAs and Ministers, could not speak for us in Parliament for five years, how can the same party now claim it will fight for us?
Therefore, this election is not about what NPF promises to do. It is about what NPF has done in 10 years of power as MLAs and 5 years of power as MP. And for BJP, which leads the NDA Government, it is about what you have achieved while being in power both at the Centre and in Manipur.
Incumbency is not a privilege to be claimed. It is a record to be examined.
What is your clear, unambiguous and actionable position on the Naga political issue, territorial rights and Article 371C?
This is the existential question. For us, politics is not only about development; it is about identity, history, dignity and destiny.
“Where there is no vision, the people perish” Proverbs 29:18. Our people have waited for more than seven decades for an honourable solution.
To the BJP Candidate: You represent the party that is still in power both at the Centre and in Manipur and leads the NDA. What is your concrete, time-bound roadmap to take the Framework Agreement of 3rd August 2015 to its honourable and inclusive conclusion? You have been in power for eleven years at the Centre. Why has the final settlement been delayed?
To the Congress Candidate: You promise a final settlement. But how do you reconcile this with your past record, particularly the 2016 creation of seven new districts without consultation with hill stakeholders that wounded Naga confidence?
To the NPF Candidate: You claim to be the most authentic platform for Naga aspirations. This claim now carries ten years of accountability as MLAs and five years of accountability as MP. You are not an outsider. You are the incumbent. In 43 and 45, you have had ten years. Your party holds almost all Naga constituencies in Manipur, with MLAs completing two terms, some as Ministers, some as Deputy Chief Minister, all as partners in the ruling NDA, and you held the Outer Manipur MP seat for five years.
Therefore we ask you most aggressively, assertively and virtuously: What concrete legislative interventions – how many private member bills, resolutions, substantive debates, walkouts, or formal written representations within the NDA coordination committee – have you made in these ten years as MLAs and five years as MP to push for an honourable and inclusive Naga political solution? What pressure have you exerted within the ruling alliance to protect Article 371C, to prevent dilution of tribal land rights and to strengthen the Autonomous District Councils? You have shared power for ten years in the Assembly and five years in Parliament. Show us the measurable political dividend of that power for the Naga cause. Why was our MP silent for five years?
What will you do about security, peace with justice, and the safety of our villages?
Development without security is an illusion.
For more than two years, Manipur has bled and still bleeding profusely. We are still living under fear, killings of innocent Naga villagers by Kukis are rampant, ancestral Naga villages from time immemorial are being burned and ravaged by Kuki supremacist aggression & war, economic blockade, and total collapse of livelihood. Farmers could not go to their fields, students could not go to their schools, patients could not reach hospitals, and businesses were choked. Our people are living in extreme economic hardship, anxiety and insecurity.
The double-engine Government that promised security failed miserably. And where were our incumbent NPF MLAs, Ministers, Deputy Chief Minister and our NPF MP for five years when our people were suffering? Silent. Invisible. Accountable to none.
To BJP: As the party still in power, how do you assess your own Government’s handling of the ongoing conflict and your plan to rebuild trust and ensure safety of all communities?
To Congress: What is your practical settlement for Manipur that will ensure justice for all and security for the hills?
To NPF: As the incumbent party in all three constituencies and as a party that is still in the ruling NDA Government with ten years of power as MLAs, five years as MP, with Ministers and Deputy Chief Minister from your ranks, what role have you played to protect the hill areas and ensure safety of Naga villages? Did you speak out boldly when our people suffered? Did you stand as a shield? You cannot take shelter in being a small partner when you have held almost all Naga seats for ten years and held the Outer seat in Parliament for five years. You must answer along with the BJP as a ruling alliance partner who has held power at both state and centre.
What are your three measurable, time-bound and accountable commitments for 43, 44 and 45?
Politics must touch the stomach, the feet and the hands of the common man.
Our youth are educated but unemployed. Our farmers produce the best Kachai Lemon and organic produce but have no market. Our villages have been promised PMGSY roads for twenty years, but in monsoon we still carry our sick on bamboo stretchers. Our PHCs have buildings but no doctors. Our schools have buildings but no teachers.
This question is most critical for the incumbents. You have had ten years in 43 and 45, and five years in 44. Almost all Naga MLAs in Manipur are from your party, completing ten years, some as Ministers. You had five years as MP for Outer Manipur.
Therefore, do not give us a new manifesto. Give us an account and a commitment.
1. Roads, Water, Electricity and Connectivity: In ten years, which villages in Phungyar, Chingai, and Ukhrul constituencies still have no all-weather road, no drinking water, no stable electricity and no mobile connectivity? What is your village-wise, time-bound plan to complete them in the next term?
2. Employment for Educated Youth: After ten years of NPF representation of almost all Naga constituencies and five years of NPF MP in Outer Manipur, how many youth from 43, 44, 45 have you facilitated into gainful employment? How many skill centres did you bring? Give us a number and a plan for the next five years.
3. Farmers, Women SHGs and Healthcare and Hospitals: What have you done in ten years for Kachai Lemon, Shirui Lily, organic farming and rural entrepreneurs? And what will you do for healthcare and hospitals? Will you ensure that Ukhrul District Hospital, Phungyar CHC, Chingai PHC and all PHSCs have full strength of doctors, nurses, medicines, diagnostic facilities, ambulance and 24×7 emergency care, so that no mother has to carry her child for miles?
Schools, colleges, education sector and students’ welfare — a non-negotiable must
This is the future of our nation. What have you done in 10 years for our schools, colleges and education sector?
Will you answer and commit:
a) Why are our Government High Schools in Phungyar, Ukhrul and Chingai without adequate Maths, Science and English teachers? Will you ensure every high school has full strength of good, qualified and regular teachers, not proxy or absent teachers?
b) What have you done for Pettigrew College, Ukhrul – the only higher education institution for our entire region? Why does it still lack regular Principal, adequate faculty, laboratories, library and hostels after 10 years of your power as MLAs and 5 years as MP?
c) What is your plan for students’ welfare – scholarships on time, hostels in Imphal and Delhi for our students, career counselling, competitive exam coaching for UPSC, SSC, banking and medical?
d) Will you ensure school buildings have proper classrooms, toilets, drinking water, electricity, and mid-day meals that actually reach the children?
An MLA who cannot provide good teachers for our children and good doctors for our sick has no moral right to ask for a third term. An MP who remained silent for five years in Parliament has no moral right to seek our vote again through his party. Education is not charity. It is our right.
And the most demanding question of all: How can voters hold you accountable after you are elected? Will you publish a yearly report card? Will you hold quarterly public hearings in Phungyar, Ukhrul and Chingai? If you have had ten years as MLAs and five years as MP and have not done this, why should we believe you will do it now?
Concluding appeal
Brothers and sisters, let us be prudent, judicious and brutally honest. No party is divine and no party is evil. But every record must be examined virtuously.
Since BJP and NPF are both in the ruling NDA Government at the Centre and in Manipur, and since NPF is the incumbent party in 43, 44 and 45 with ten years in 43 and 45, and holds almost all Naga MLAs in Manipur completing two terms with some as Ministers and Deputy Chief Minister, and since NPF also held the Outer Manipur MP seat for five years without speaking for us and whose former MP has now left the party, both BJP and NPF must answer primarily for their performance in power. Congress must answer for both its promises today and its record of yesterday.
Don’t vote merely for a party. Don’t reject a party merely because of its label. Examine the candidate, examine the record, examine the manifesto and examine the proposed action.
What we need in 43, 44 and 45 is not just an MLA who goes to Imphal to sit silently after winning for the third time, or an MP who goes to Delhi to sit silently for five years. We need a true servant-leader – biblically grounded, morally upright, politically wise, socially committed and legally sound – who will fight assertively and powerfully in the Assembly and in Parliament for our political rights, for our security, and for our basic needs of roads, water, electricity, employment, and Schools, Colleges, Education with good teachers, and healthcare and hospitals with doctors, nurses, medicines and proper facilities.
Let us discuss facts, records and policies. Let every voter make his or her own decision.
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Michael Meiphami Shaiza is the President of Ukhrul-based NGO Ecological Rehabilitators’ Association (ERA).
(Views expressed are writers’ own and do not, in whatsoever manner, reflect that of Ukhrul Now)
