Today, 4 March, is Manipur’s first phase of assembly election. Significantly, it is being held even as the state is reeling under the effect of the indefinite economic blockade imposed by the pro-NSCN(IM) Manipur-based Naga United Council since 1 November last year. The next exercise will be on 8 March.
The indomitable third-time chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh is the BJP’s main target The voters have to decide whether or not he has lost the moral authority to govern for running the most corrupt government, as alleged by Prime Minister Narendra Modi while speaking at an election rally in Imphal on 25 February.
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He buttressed this by adding that what Ibobi had not been able to achieve by way of development during his 15-year stint, the BJP would do so in as many months,
The thinking among voters is if the party in power at the Centre forms a government in the state — Assam is an example — the Manipuris might see better days, like no more economic blockades and living under the shadow of the gun (the most-hated Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act that has come to stay since the 1979 end without any significant improvement whatsoever in law and order situation).
But strangely enough, none of the senior BJP leaders is known to have uttered a word about the AF(SP) Act after they came to power in June 2014. The BJP has also promised to lift the ongoing blockade within hours, if elected.
Manipur has political leaders who even outsmart a chameleon. Some Congress stalwarts have already joined the BJP but they are not likely to have an easy run given the reports that committed BJP supporters will not vote for such political turncoats.
The people in the Imphal Valley (40 seats) are not likely to dump Ibobi easily for the simple reason that he is the only leader who has stoutly defended the state’s territorial integrity.
They have not forgotten how, in June 2001 the .then BJP government led by AB Vajpayee extended the Nagaland ceasefire to Manipur’s four hill districts without even consulting the state. In the protests that followed, 18 people lost their lives.
In the 2012 assembly election, the Congress won 42 of the 60 seats That was for the first time since 1967 any single party had a clear-cut victory despite stiff competition from the combined opposition. If the Manipuris realise the seemingly dangerous consequences of Nagas’ demand for integration, Ibobi may have the last laugh.
