GUWAHATI: Opposition Congress in Manipur is buying time to decide on its candidate for elections to the lone Rajya Sabha seat.
So far, there is just one candidate, party spokesman Ningombam Bupenda Meitei, who had formally applied for the ticket.
Earlier, the state Congress leadership had set March 9 as the deadline for the same. By that time, it was only Meitei, an academic, who had applied for the ticket. Subsequently, the state Congress leadership extended the deadline.
It expired at 11 am on Thursday but nobody else had moved the party seeking the ticket. The Congress convened a meeting at 2 pm on Thursday apparently to discuss the issue. It was scheduled to be attended among others by former Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh.
Sources said Ibobi was not so keen on fielding Meitei. Apparently, Congress is searching for another candidate.
A confidant of Meitei said the latter was not happy over the manner in which the Congress leadership was dealing with the issue.
“He (Meitei) feels he should be fielded as none else had applied for the ticket within the two deadlines,” the confidant said.
The BJP, which heads the state’s ruling coalition, has fielded a titular king Sanajaoba.