MOKOKCHUNG (NAGALAND): Khensa is a village in Mokokchung district comprising 500 households. As rain pours down on this wind-swept village, it’s easy to miss the white flags tied to the entrance of many houses.The flags, with ‘Clean Election Campaign’ written on them, have been distributed by the Ao Baptist Arogo Mungdang (ABAM), the church association of the Ao tribe, arguably the most progressive and dominant in Nagaland. The ABAM is part of the Nagaland Baptist Church Council that is spearheading a drive to root out money power in elections.
The NBCC feels offering bribe to voters is the main cause of corruption. Although the campaign took shape in 1972, it gathered pace only in 2016, when the NBCC called a meeting of all political parties in Kohima to discuss corruption.
The result of the meeting was startling: politicians admitted they were corrupt but blamed voters for it. “They said people ask for money during polls and they end up spending crores to get elected. They told us that because they have to recover their money they are forced to become corrupt,” said Reverend Mar Atsongchanger, the convener of the ‘Clean Election Campaign.’
The voters, on the other hand, blamed the politicians. “There are no jobs here. I have finished post-graduation but I am unemployed as I don’t have money to bribe the politicians, so why shouldn’t I make money when I have the chance?” asked Deny Zhimomi in Dimapur.But the sustained drive by the church is catching on, as is clear from Khensa in Mokokchung. “Of the 500 households here, 200 have hoisted the white flag of the Clean Election Campaign,” said Reverend K Temjen Longchar, the village pastor. Candidates or their agents don’t come knocking to buy votes.
Sungjemenla’s hut, made of cane and corrugated tin, is only yards down the church. A white flag on a makeshift pole outside her home has warded off the agents of bribery. “No one has come to my house to offer money. When they see the flag they leave,” she said.At a roadside shop in VK, a village in Zunheboto district, a woman serving tea sports a T-shirt with ‘Clean Election Campaign. She said many people ask her about the campaign. “The message is going down,” she claimed.
The government, too, is doing its bit. Dimapur District Collector Sushil Kumar Patel said he held a meeting of all political parties on February 9 where all the candidates pledged a clean campaign. “It’s now up to them,” he said.But the pledges notwithstanding, money is being distributed, rather it is flowing. Matong Longkumer, a septuagenarian living in Mokokchung, said he was offered Rs 1,000 by an agent of a candidate. “I refused,” he claimed.
At a prominent hotel in a major town of Nagaland, an SUV comes to a halt at the portico. A safari suit-clad man with a pistol holstered to his waist brings down two suitcases and carries them to a room. The next morning the suitcases are loaded on to the SUV again. It was difficult to independently verify the contents of the suitcases but an official claimed they were cash for distribution among voters.
The bribes, it is said, range from Rs 1,000 to over Rs 10,000 for a vote. According to Youth Net, an NGO, the more the candidates spend, the higher the chances of winning. In the 2013 Assembly polls, 33 candidates spent less than Rs 1 crore and only one got elected, whereas 11 of them spent more than Rs 20 crore and eight won.
Such is the power of money that “clean” candidates don’t seem to stand a chance. Last month, Reverend Mazie Nakhro, a staunch campaigner against corruption, announced he would contest the election from the Western Angami seat in Kohima district. But 36 hours later he beat a hasty retreat, unable to match the cash.
Khekiye K Sema, a retired IAS officer and a clean election campaigner, is a Congress candidate from Ghaspani-II in Dimapur. He enjoys considerable goodwill among voters but faces stiff odds. “He is popular with the people but won’t win as he doesn’t have cash,” said Naga Gaonbura Federation general secretary S Jalipu. Reverend Atsongchanger said even if 25 per cent of the voters refuse to sell their votes he would consider it a success.