Money power, weak Opposition render elections lacklustre in Arunachal

Seven months later, Tanio feels disappointed. The beautiful township, the headquarters of the Lower Subansiri district in the Himalayan state known for its lush green paddy fields and pine trees, wears a forlorn look. There are no signs of the usual hustle and bustle associated with elections – the biggest festival of Indian democracy – in Ziro.

Hage Appa, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) politician and a retired engineer, won the Ziro-Hapoli Assembly constituency "unopposed". The People's Party of Arunachal, a regional political entity, fielded its candidate in the constituency but later recalled the person, leaving the voters baffled.

Unopposed candidates in Assembly elections

Appa is among 10 BJP candidates, including incumbent Chief Minister Pema Khandu, who got elected to the 60-member Assembly in Arunachal Pradesh "unopposed or uncontested" before ballots were cast.

The Himalayan border state is all set to vote for the simultaneous Assembly and parliamentary polls on April 19 – during the first phase of the nationwide 18th General Elections to elect 543 members for the Lok Sabha.

Arunachal Pradesh has a 60-member Assembly and two parliamentary seats. Since 10 BJP candidates have already become members of the Legislative Assembly without an electoral battle, voting will take place only in 50 Assembly constituencies and two parliamentary constituencies.

"As a voter, I feel deprived of my right to exercise my franchise. In my opinion, it is a bad sign for democracy. Before voting, we got our MLA. Thus, there is no campaigning, which is door-to-door as it is a small place. It is based on campaigning and the track record of the candidates, people generally cast their votes. The whole process has been cut short," said Tanio.

History repeats itself, favouring BJP

In Arunachal Pradesh, history is getting repeated. It is not the first time that so many candidates won unopposed. Senior journalist Dipankar Roy from Guwahati, Assam, jogged voters' memory by citing figures from the 2014 Arunachal Pradesh Assembly elections, when 11 candidates of the Congress won unopposed.

"The grand old party can take some solace from its past 'victories' at a time when there is no stopping its electoral downfall across the country," added Roy.

According to the senior journalist, the BJP got 10 seats in its kitty as in some of these Assembly constituencies only the saffron party filed its nominations.

"In others, the grapevine says candidates withdrew their nominations under duress or enticements. There is also a sense of despondency among the Opposition parties about the futility of fighting against the powerful incumbent BJP," added Roy.

National, not local issues

Tanio and others in Ziro will vote for the Arunachal Pradesh West parliamentary constituency (the other seat is the Arunachal Pradesh East parliamentary constituency). Perforce, voting will be done for the Lok Sabha seat more on national issues rather than local ones.

"Now, hardly anyone is talking about local issues like the fast-depleting paddy fields of Ziro, as more and more land is being converted into commercial use," said Tanio.

However, not all in Ziro or Arunachal Pradesh agree with Tanio's views. Many feel "the unaccounted flow of money during elections to buy voters has been reduced a bit" because several candidates won without a fight this time. Again, there are strong whispers that huge amounts of money were exchanged to keep opponents away from contesting elections.

Money, money and more money

Hours after the announcement of elections by the Election Commission of India on March 16, ₹59 lakh in cash was seized from a vehicle in Ziro.

According to the ECI, since the announcement of polls, ₹5.88 crore in cash, drugs worth ₹76.78 lakh, liquor worth ₹4.37 crore and other materials worth ₹3.64 crore have been seized from the state till April 9.

Kani Nada Maling, president of Arunachal Pradesh Women Welfare Society, said elections in the border state are synonymous with money.

"It is an open secret. Political parties and their leaders buy votes paying cash to voters. The amount could be as high as ₹1 lakh per voter. However, not all voters sell themselves. But many do, especially in underdeveloped rural areas where the source of income is nil," added Maling.

'Why not?'

"Elections are the only times voters get to earn some money. Politicians come to meet us only during elections. After that, they forget us till the next election. Thus, many people take the money offered to them before polling," said a woman voter from Yupia, a town 20 km away from the capital Itanagar.

Political observers say that except for government jobs and small-scale businesses, people don't have other sources of livelihood. A sizeable population practises agriculture and horticulture but they are not profit-making avenues. Unemployment is a huge issue in the state.

Hundreds of youths leave the state to find jobs in faraway cities like Guwahati, Kolkata, Delhi, Bengaluru and Chennai, every year.

The anger of the disgruntled unemployed youths was evident as they protested in large numbers against the alleged Arunachal Pradesh Public Service Commission cash-for-job 'scam' on multiple occasions since 2022.

"Despite the resentment, politicians are silent about it. Corruption is not an election issue for the candidates. They talk about bringing development to the state without being specific about the nature of welfare schemes to be introduced for the electors," said Sunil Mow, Itanagar-based lawyer.

Why is corruption not a concern?

While a small group of young and educated people are voicing their angst against corruption on social media, the majority prefers to ignore it. "Maybe, voters don't think corruption affects their lives. But we all know corruption is endemic to the state. Politicians and government officials are involved in corrupt practices and making huge amounts of wealth which is evident in their lifestyle. No government contract is given in the state without a slew of payoffs under the table," said Suniya, who writes her first name only, from Itanagar.

The 25-year-old is an engineering graduate and she is trying to get a job for the last four years. Youths like Suniya opine that corruption is a roadblock for job aspirants to land government jobs. They also say that because of corruption the state is still underdeveloped and lacks industries.

"If there have been industries, youths could have been employed and don't have to migrate to other states," added Suniya.

The political zig-zagging in the state like its mountainous terrain is best summarised by an analysis done by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and Arunachal Pradesh Election Watch for the Assembly polls.

According to the report, at least 115 (81 per cent) candidates are crorepatis and 23 (16 per cent) candidates have criminal cases against them. The analysis is based on the self-sworn affidavits of 142 out of 143 candidates contesting the Assembly elections.

Pre-poll violence

Several incidents of pre-poll violence are being regularly reported from the hill state. The latest is the killing of a person in West Kameng district on Saturday (April 13). The deceased was a BJP supporter. He died after a clash broke out between the supporters of the saffron party and the independent candidate vying for the Thrizino-Buragaon Assembly constituency in West Kameng district.

In late March, violence erupted outside the deputy commissioner's office in Longding district in which a senior police officer was injured when supporters of the National People’s Party (NPP) candidate went on a rampage over the rejection of his nomination.

Lack of strong Opposition and the China angle

Itanagar-based lawyer Mow observed the Opposition was almost non-existent in Arunachal Pradesh. "It makes the incumbent BJP look invincible," he added.

"Most of the NPP, Congress and independent leaders joined the BJP over time. It cannot be healthy for democracy," said Roy. "As the BJP has already made a 'flying start' by winning 10 seats unopposed, it indicates the saffron party to make a clean sweep in the polls," he added.

On top of all these, around 30 places in the north-eastern state have been renamed by China recently.

India strongly opposed the move, declaring Arunachal Pradesh an integral part of the country, but the neighbouring country continues to cast its shadow over the peace and security of the state. China claims Arunachal Pradesh to be its territory.

On a lighter note, the people of Arunachal Pradesh feel that the ongoing high-octane political drama in the border state compensates for the neglect it faces from "mainland India".