Majoritarian and Realigning Elections in Churachandpur
District, Manipur: A Study of Singat Assembly Constituency
from 1972-2007 Assembly Elections
By Bulchong Lhungdim Hemkhomang
Majoritarian and realigning elections are global phenomena in liberal democracy. The paper attempts to analyse this phenomenon in Churachandpur District (Manipur State) in general and Singat Assembly constituency in particular over the past elections after Manipur attained statehood. Unlike the other five Assembly constituencies in the district, Singat is the only constituency where no one so far has won the seat consecutively for the second time. The social apex body of the Zou community has a major role in the electoral politics of the constituency. In Manipur from the 1st Assembly election in 1972 till the 9th elections in 2007, the study reveals that there are only three constituencies where realignment in election took place in each subsequent elections and Singat is one of them. In such constituencies, elections are found to be not only more competitive in nature, but also the people in general are more politically educated than their counterparts. This model may be prescribed for the other constituencies in the district as well as to the entire State of Manipur to reactivate the essence of democracy once again as a vibrant institution to deliver the goods equally irrespective of socio-religious, economic background or descent.