Imphal: Elections to the Manipur Legislative Assembly will be held in two phases on February 27 and March 3. While preparing for the election campaign, the situation there is different. BJP office in Manipur is on fire. Intra-party situation, Delhi has reached the top. Similarly, the parties are raising the banner against the Congress.
There are a total of 60 constituencies in the Manipur Assembly. The BJP announced the candidates for these 60 constituencies in a single breath yesterday. Earlier, Chief Minister N. Byrne Singh had concluded the last round of talks with BJP key figures SS Olis and his son-in-law RK, who had sought seats in the party, after which the candidates were announced. That’s where the problem started.
The party’s chief ministerial candidate Haiyang announced that he would contest from the assembly constituency and refused to give seats to sitting MLAs Y. Erpat Singh of Wanke constituency, P. Sarathchandra of Moirang constituency and M. Rameshwar Singh of Coxing constituency.
But the Congress gave the seat to Okram Henry Singh, a relative of former chief minister Okram Ipobi and a recent defector from the Congress who had joined the BJP.
Similarly, the BJP allotted the Moirang constituency to M. Prithiviraj, who had split from the Congress, and Coxing’s constituency to Y. Soorchandra from the Congress. The enraged BJP looted the BJP zonal office in Chakalbandh. Similarly, some even resigned as basic members of the BJP and joined other parties in protest. BJP dissidents joined Manipur’s NPP and United Janata Dal parties.
There is no shortage of chaos in the Congress tent either: If this is the case in the BJP, then the conflict within the Manipur Congress party has not abated. Former Manipur Pradesh Congress vice-president Vijamani has announced his resignation from the party following the denial of the seat. He burned the Congress flag and banners and rioted with supporters.
In the last legislative elections, Congress won 28 of the 60 seats. This time the Congress is planning a pre-election alliance with the Left. So it has announced its candidates for 40 constituencies and is in the process of allocating seats to the Left. It is in this context that protests have erupted within the party.
Individual Competitive NPP: The NPP, which allied itself with the BJP in the last assembly elections, is contesting this time on its own. The party now has 4 MLAs. It has announced 20 candidates in this regard.
Polls suggest the BJP has a chance to win in such an environment.