THERE IS SOMETHING strange about the list of candidates announced by the All India Congress
Committee (AICC) for the upcoming 2022 Manipur assembly elections. AICC on Saturday released the
first list of Manipur Congress candidates selected by the Central Election Committee of Congress. As
many as 40 candidates, including former chief minister O Ibobi Singh, have been named in the first
list.
A Congress spokesperson Manipur Pradesh Congress Committee said the list with 40 names is
the first list and the party will release the second list of around 12 candidates by the end of this
month and subsequently a few more names. The party is likely to field around 55 candidates in the
60 member Manipur Legislative Assembly. The spokesperson further said that the party might
sacrifice a few constituencies in the largest interest of non-BJP parties. The intention of our party to
announce the list of candidates before anyone else is to put to rest the baseless speculation of
waiting for BJP rejects or defection from BJP, according to the spokesperson.
Also Read: Manipur Assembly Election 2022: Congress releases first candidates list; 40 in fray
Of course, many are resenting the leadership of former Chief Minister O Ibobi Singh which led to the exodus of party veterans including Govindas Konthoujam of Bishnupur assembly constituency. Yet, the party is likely to fight the upcoming elections under the leadership of CLP leader O Ibobi Singh, who continues to hold an iron grip over the party and the blessings of the high command. However, the absence of candidates for six constituencies out of seven in the Imphal Municipal area in the Congress list is rather interesting.
In the 2017 assembly elections, the Congress won three seats while BJP and NPP won two seats each in Imphal area. Except for Uripok constituency, the party has not announced candidates for the crucial seats of Khurai, Wangkhei, Yaiskul, Thangmeiband, Sagolband and Keishamthong constituencies. Wangkhei constituency was won by O Ibobi Singh’s nephew O Henry who switched over his loyalty to BJP, but Henry’s election was overturned by the Court and former Congress stalwart and BJP candidate Y Erabot Singh declared the winner.
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In Sagolband constituency, RK Imo the son of former CM RK Jaichandra and son-in-law of present Chief Minister N Biren Singh won and in the fag-end of the term RK Imo chose to side with his father-in-law and joined BJP, while former Congressman and BJP candidate in last election Kh Loken sulks in the sidelines. A former MLA Kh Loken was denied the Congress ticket in 2017 in favour of RK Imo and he contested from BJP and lost by a narrow margin.
In Thangmeiband constituency, the Congress MLA Kh Joykishan had been suspended from party
membership recently for ‘anti-party’ activities. It is in the grapevine that, CM Biren wants him as the
BJP candidate while other party leaders like Th Bishwajit is objecting to his entry. Th Joykishan won
his first election from Thangmeiband on an All India Trinamool Congress ticket, but he joined the BJP in
2015 and won again in the byelections along with Th Bishwajit from Thongju constituency. However,
he switched over to the Congress in the 2017 elections while Bishwajit remained with the BJP. In such a
circumstance, keeping in abeyance the announcement of Congress candidates in Imphal Municipal
area is purely a tactical move.
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Now, everyone is waiting for the BJP list. The anticipation is so much that people are willing to
believe anything or any ‘list’ in circulation. Almost every constituency has 3 to 5 intending candidates
vying for the BJP party ticket, which seems to have become quite a headache for the party
leadership as many of the ticket aspirants seems to enjoy patronage from among the state and
central leadership.
Party karyakatas imported from neighbouring states are roaming the lanes of every constituency assisted by concerned Mandal officials and collecting data. But, one never knows how much of these survey reports or data would be taken into account while deciding the party ticket by the leadership. One thing is certain, the Chief Minister is at odds with state unit president A Sarda Devi and minister Th Bishwajit over the choice of candidates.
