Thaindian News

Imphal, Dec 25 (IANS) The battlelines for next month’s assembly elections in Manipur has been drawn, with the ruling Congress party eyeing a political hat trick and the regional Manipur People’s Party (MPP) and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) trying to stop the juggernaut.

Elections to the 60-member assembly are scheduled Jan 28.

“We are ready to face the elections and confident of making it for the third straight term,” Food and Civil Supplies Minister N. Biren Singh told IANS.

The MPP and the NCP are expected to have a pre-poll alliance.

“We are soon going to have a formal alliance with the NCP and confident of ousting the Congress from power,” MPP president Nimaichand Luwang said.

Meanwhile, the president of Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Manipur unit, Shantikumar Sharma, has accused the ruling party of being unable to tackle the problems arising in the state, and said that Congress party will be wiped out in the upcoming polls.

“The government has failed in all fronts and there was nothing but turmoil in Manipur during the last two terms of the Congress government. We are surely going to make a big difference in the polls,” Sharma said.

“(Chief Minister) Okram Ibobi Singh wrongly dealt with the over 100-day long economic blockade, apart from issues like terrorism and ethnic clashes,” he added.

The state went through a gruelling economic blockade which was launched by the Sadar Hills District Demand Committee (SHDDC) Aug 1 for conversion of the Kuki tribal majority Sadar Hills area into a full-fledged district.

The move was opposed by the Nagas, who resorted to a counter blockade.

The three-month long blockades led to severe shortage of essentials, including fuel, cooking gas cylinders and medicines.

In the 2007 assembly elections, the Congress party won 31 seats, MPP and the NCP bagged four seats each, while 10 seats were won by independents. The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) won in three seats, while smaller regional parties made up for the rest.

The BJP failed to open their account in the 2007 polls.

State Congress chief and Power Minister Gaikhangam Gangmei has said that there is a possibility of violence in the run up to the polls.

“But we believe the people themselves would foil any attempt to create trouble.

“At the end of the day, it would be the people’s verdict and the people’s will that would prevail and we are confident of winning the polls hands down,” he added.

Local issues, mainly insurgency and economic under development, are likely to dominate the agendas of all the political parties.

Counting of votes would be taken up March 4 along with Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarkhand and Goa, which are also going to polls in January and February.