IMPHAL: Political manoeuvre handed BJP power in Arunachal last year. Another, allegedly made in poll-bound Manipur, gave it six Congress MLAs, if not power, but the abortive bid gave the ruling party enough firepower to go all guns blazing at the saffron party.
In every election rally, the Congress is alleging that the resurgent BJP had tried to poach more than 20 of its MLAs to try and destabilise the Okram Ibobi Singh government.
“The BJP had tried to destabilise the Congress government by attempting to engineer the mass defection of our MLAs. The party was in touch with more than 20 of them and tried to lure them by promising chief ministership,” Pradesh Congress Committee president T N Haokip alleged.
He said the Congress managed to fend off the BJP’s attempt and keep its house in order although six of the MLAs were eventually trapped. They defected to the saffron party on being driven by the allurement, Haokip said.
The BJP has fielded all six of them - former ministers N Biren Singh, Yumkham Erabot Singh and Francis Ngajokpa and MLAs Dr. Kh. Loken, Z Kikhonbou Newmai and Nemcha Kipgen - in next month’s elections. The newspaper editor-turned-politician Biren was Ibobi’s “right hand” man during his life in the Congress. He is now a BJP spokesman.
The Congress also alleged that the BJP was hands in glove with Manipur’s apex social organisation of the Nagas, the United Naga Council (UNC), which has enforced an indefinite “economic blockade” on two national highways since November 1 that choked supplies to the state.
“The BJP had manufactured the blockade. Their idea was to create unrest and turmoil so that President’s rule is imposed in the state,” Haokip alleged. Other Congress leaders, including the chief minister, are raising the issue in their election rallies.
The BJP rubbished the allegations and called Congress nervous.
“The Congress is nervous; so no wonder that they are making these wild allegations. They can go to any length to blame the BJP to try and gain people’s sympathy. But, the writing is clear on the wall. The people of Manipur want change and that change is imminent,” BJP president Bhabananda Singh said.
The two-phase polls in the state will be held on March 4 and 8.