Two, the notorious Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) has become an election issue, particularly in the valley. In the aftermath of the custodial killing of a young Manipuri woman, and subsequent agitation (including self-immolation and the disrobing by elderly women in the heart of Imphal), it has gripped the state. In an election rally, Congress President Sonia Gandhi said that the Centre is studying the Reddy Committee Report which has reportedly recommended scrapping the Act. Most parties, except the Congress and the Rashtriya Janata Dal, have included the issue in their manifesto. Beyond the election, too, the AFPSA is likely to haunt the 9th Legislative Assembly.

In this election, therefore, questions of the geo-political identity of Manipur and the dominant paradigm of governance, namely the security perspective, have been brought into focus through the issues of ‘Naga homeland’/ ‘territorial integrity’ and the controversy over the AFSPA. Both have a crucial bearing on the state’s future. But the basic questions of corruption, infrastructure and underdevelopment could not climb onto the political stage.

The writer is a social and political psychologist at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, Delhi