Making a political statement with silence does not translate into electoral success for women in Manipur. Rights activist Irom Sharmila, who fasted for almost 16 years against the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, found it out the hard way in 2017.
Contesting against the then Congress Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh in the Thoubal constituency, she polled 90 votes, the lowest among the five candidates her party had fielded.
Women who speak out have met a similar fate in the State’s electoral battle. But Thounaojam Brinda, an ex-police officer, is confident of breaking the trend in Manipur’s “male-dominated politics fuelled by money and muscle power”.
She is one of the 38 candidates fielded by the Janata Dal-United (JD-U). Her constituency, Yaiskul, has the highest concentration of Brahmins and members of Manipur’s royalty.
“Women in Manipur have always been at the forefront of social, economic and political movements but political control has eluded them. This is because women do not have access to contract jobs, drugs and other black-market products that fund elections,” Ms. Brinda told The Hindu.
She claimed the support of most voters of Yaiskul to make a difference to the Manipuri society as a whole by becoming a lawmaker. “I was an activist before joining the police, but could do little to fight the misgovernance. Eventually, I had to choose between my career and trying my hands in politics for the power to stem the rot around us,” she said.
Ms. Brinda’s main rivals in Yaiskul are sitting MLA Thokchom Satyabrata Singh of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Ningombam Helendro Singh of Congress. Yaiskul goes to the polls in the first phase on February 28.
She said the JD(U) would become the kingmaker after the results are out on March 10. “One of the reasons why JD(U) will do well is it is untested, unlike the national and regional parties that have let the people down,” she added.
Ms. Brinda insisted her candidature from JD(U), an ally of the BJP at the national level, will have no impact. “In Manipur, a candidate matters more than the party. Party ideology or principle does not work here. Most in the BJP came from Congress; they will return to Congress if it forms a government at the Centre,” she said.
Out of the total of 265 candidates fielded by various parties, 17 are women, six more than in 2017. Members of local women’s organisations say their representation is grossly disproportionate in a State where women make up about 52% of the total of 20.35 lakh voters.
Two out of 11 women candidates in 2017 were elected. Former Minister Nemcha Kipgen is seeking re-election from the Kangpokpi seat; so is Akoijam Mirabai Devi of Congress from Patsoi.
The other women candidates include S.S. Olish of the BJP from the Chandel seat and Lhinkim Haokip of the Congress from Saikul.
