GUWAHATI: A day after the BJP threatened to sue Irom Sharmila for accusing the party of offering her `36 crore, for campaigning in Manipur, she made public the name of the BJP cadre who allegedly made the offer.
On Monday, she identified the person as Surbinoy, a BJP morcha convenor. The BJP meanwhile, rubbished her claim. “The BJP doesn’t have any morcha convenor or office bearer by that name,” the party’s Manipur unit president K Bhabananda Singh said.
Sharmila claimed that the offer was made to her after she had ended her epic hunger strike last year and decided to contest the polls. She said Surbinoy had told her that she would need around `36 crore to contest the elections and in case she did not have the money, the Centre would “sanction” it.
“I said in that case I should contest as an Independent,” Sharmila told reporters in Imphal.
On Sunday, the BJP had accused her of fibbing and sought a clarification from her. The party also threatened to take her to court.
“We’re surprised to hear such allegation, which is utterly baseless. None in the BJP offered her any money. It’s a blatant lie. We don’t have `36 crore,” the party’s Manipur unit general secretary Thongam Biswajit had said.
Sharmila, 44, is contesting the polls from Thoubal seat on the ticket of People’s Resurgence and Justice Alliance, which she floated last year. She will be up against three-time incumbent Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh of the Congress among others. Singh had won the last two elections with record margins.The two-phase polls will be held on March 4 and 8.