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Dry Manipur’s only Assembly constituency reserved for Scheduled Castes is voting for ‘yu’, a distilled rice wine. Sekmai, the constituency, derives its name from Sekmai, a village of more than 4,000 home-based brewers, about 20 km north of State capital Imphal. Tipplers associate the name more with the type of ‘yu’ the villagers brew.
Manipur has been divided since the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government headed by Nongthombam Biren Singh had decided in June 2017 to pave the way for exporting branded country liquor that is allowed to be sold on a small scale, unlike the India-made foreign liquor.
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Some of Manipur’s popular ‘yu’ destinations include Andro, Phayeng and Keikhu Kabui. But the votes of thirsty throats and connoisseurs of local wines invariably go to the ‘sekmai’ for its taste and kick.
The rating has not necessarily translated into prosperity for the people of Sekmai dominated by the Tai-Lai community. For the 5,066 voters across eight polling stations in the village, ‘achchhe din (good days)’ can be ensured if the new government allows the production to be scaled up for selling to markets beyond Manipur.
“We would like our candidates to promote ‘yu’ without feeling guilty or letting the pressure from prohibitionists get to them. But sadly, Sekmai has always produced the weakest representative in Manipur except for K. Chaoba, our very first MLA who could have become the Chief Minister,” Sekmai youth leader Khwairakpam Rakesh said.
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Heikham Dingo Singh, the BJP candidate seeking re-election, credited the Biren Singh government for steps to take the local wine to the next level through branding and exporting. He also pointed to the approval of the State Assembly’s Select Committee in August 2021 to the Manipur Liquor Prohibition (Second Amendment) Bill, 2018, for allowing the export-oriented brewing of alcoholic beverages.
His Congress rival, Ningthoujam Biren Singh said the process had started during the rule of the grand old party in 2002. That year, the government had lifted prohibition from five hill districts but a similar move in 2015 “for economic reasons” for the rest of the State had to be dropped following stiff resistance from pressure groups.
Pro-prohibition groups such as Coalition Against Drugs and All Manipur Women’s Social Reformation and Development also opposed the Biren Singh government’s decision to allow commercial brewing. Their argument: high-volume ‘yu’ production will worsen the existing alcoholism – the khuls or drinking dens attract many in the evenings – and trigger a shortage of the local sticky rice from which the wine is made.
“These are poor arguments. The prohibitionists are indirectly promoting spurious country liquor giving sekmai yu a bad name, denying revenue for the government and supporting the consumption of drugs,” Mr. Rakesh said. Manipur is one of the worst-hit States in terms of drug addiction and prevalence of HIV/AIDS.
Eight contestants, including Ayangbam Oken Singh of the National People’s Party and K. Devendro Singh of Janata Dal (United) are vying for the Sekmai seat going to the polls on February 28.