NEW DELHI: The BJP on Tuesday rejected the claims of Irom Sharmila's that she was offered over Rs 36 crore by the party to contest against the incumbent chief minister Ibobi Singh. The BJP national general secretary Ram Madhav dismissed the allegation, saying that the claims are "malicious and an absolute lie".
The BJP leader asserted that the party’s whole budget for the Manipur Assembly elections is not even the amount states in Sharmila’s claims. "The amount of Rs 36 crore is not even our election budget for the state," added Madhav.
The BJP leader, who is in-charge for the North-east, claimed that the people in Manipur would vote out the Ibobi led Congress government. “Congress is not in contention in 20 of the 60 seats in Manipur,” said Madhav, while adding that the incumbent chief minister had been abetting the road blockade.
Claiming that the more than three months-long blockade would not harm the prospects of the BJP in the state, Madhav said that the people have seen through the design of the chief minister in prolonging the stir. He added that the BJP’s main rival in the poll-bound state is the NPF and other local outfits and not the Congress. “The Congress is in fight in only 40 seats in the valley. The BJP's main challengers in the
20 hill seats are NPF and other local parties,” said Madhav, who added that the Central government has taken a number of steps to find a solution to the blockade, including 40 additional companies of central forces in addition to near 45 companies already present. “The Centre airlifted things like petrol and cooking gas cylinders to alleviate the pain of the people in the state. The chief minister has a vested interest to prolong the blockade,” added Madhav.