GUWAHATI: The BJP on Monday released its first list, comprising names of 31 candidates, for the two-phase Manipur elections scheduled for March 4 and 8.
The names were finalized at a party meeting held on January 19 in New Delhi. The meeting was chaired by BJP national president Amit Shah and attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister
Rajnath Singh, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and other members of the party’s central election committee, the BJP said in a statement.
Three former Manipur Congress Ministers, N Biren Singh, Yumkham Erabot Singh and Francis Ngajokpa; two former Congress MLAs Dr Kh Loken and Z Kikhonbou Newmai, and Congress leader Dr S Ranjan were among the candidates, whose names were announced on Monday. Biren, Erabot Singh and Newmai had resigned as Congress MLAs last year and later defected to BJP.
Other biggies to have been issued tickets were the party’s former state unit president Th Chaoba, former state CPI leader N Mangi and former leader of Manipur People's Party O Joy.
Interestingly, there is no woman candidate in BJP’s first list. Also, it contained the name of just one Muslim, Md. Anwar Hussain. Muslims account for 6 percent of Manipur’s around 26 lakh population.
According to BJP sources, the names of the remaining 29 candidates will be announced on January 27.
Meanwhile, former Congress MLAs Nemcha Kipgen and Vungzagin Valte and the party’s vice president S Achouba, who resigned on Sunday, would join the BJP on Wednesday.
“They are joining BJP on January 25 in the presence of our leaders Ram Madhav and Himanta Biswa Sarma (Assam Minister). All of them will be issued tickets,” BJP spokesman N Biren told Express.
“The names of the remaining 29 candidates will be announced on January 27. The BJP is confident of bringing an end to the 15-year Congress regime in Manipur,” he asserted.
THE NAMES OF CANDIDATES