Even as three candidates, including professor Bimol Akoijam of Congress has thrown in their hats in the ring, the ruling BJP still remains non-committal on its candidate for the Inner Manipur Constituency in the ensuing Lok Sabha elections.
BJP released its fifth list Sunday evening, including those of Mizoram and Sikkim, but left out Inner Manipur. It had already announced that it will support the candidate of its junior partner NPF Timothy Zimik for the Outer Manipur constituency.
Sources said, the party is still considering a few names, including that of sitting MP and MoS RK Ranjan.
The list was finalised on Sunday after a marathon meeting of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP national president JP Nadda. The candidates were broadly discussed in the party CEC meeting on Saturday.
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Besides Outer Manipur BJP had also decided to support NPP candidates in Meghalaya and NDPP candidate in Nagaland.
Mention may be made that, Maheshwar Thounaojam of RPI (Athawale) had expressed his intention to join the fray in Inner Manipur while Manipur Peoples Party (MPP) has nominated popular actor RK Somorendro @ Kaiku for the seat.
Meanwhile, the Manipur Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) on Sunday accorded a warm welcome to the two INC candidates, Professor Bimol Akoijam for the inner seat and Alfred K Arthur for the outer seat of Manipur Parliamentary election.
A low-key welcoming ceremony took place at Congress Bhawan in Imphal, where the candidates were handed over to the people of Manipur.
Addressing the gathering, K Meghachandra, the president of MPCC, emphasised the importance of representatives who can voice the concerns of Manipur in Parliament.
He criticised the BJP representatives for their silence on Manipur’s issues during the state’s prolonged 10-month crisis.
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“These INC candidates are people’s candidates, not just political party candidates. MPCC has entrusted them to the people of Manipur,” stated the president.
Professor Bimol Akoijam shared his journey from teaching to politics, highlighting the necessity of working from a political platform to reform the system effectively.
On the other hand, Alfred K Arthur criticised the negligence of the BJP government during the ongoing crisis.
“Prime Minister Modi’s silence on the Manipur crisis is concerning. It’s hard to awaken someone who isn’t asleep. We need collective action from the public during the elections to restore the failing system,” said Arthur.
The event also saw the presence of CLP leader O Ibobi, CWC member Gaikhangam, Congress MLAs, and other office bearers.
Prior to the ceremony, MPCC president K Meghachandra briefed the media about the five guarantees announced by INC during the recent Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra.
These guarantees, he said, Hissedari Nyay, Yuva Nyay, Kishan Nyay, Naari Nyay, and Shramik Nyay each contain five promises in addition to the upcoming INC manifesto set to be released soon.
