Thongam Biswajit is a senior minister in Manipur’s BJP-led coalition government, handling six departments including PWD and Panchayat & Rural Development. The BJP had to cobble up numbers to form the government the last time.
This time, Biswajit, who is considered close to the RSS, tells Prasanta Mazumdar that the party will win at a canter.
Excerpts from an interview:
How confident is the BJP of retaining power?
I am fully confident that our party will retain power. It will secure a thumping victory. The BJP is with the people of Manipur. Our party honours the responsibility given by the people.
How do you rate the government’s performance?
The people of the state have tried and tested us. I can say with full conviction that with the double engine government, Manipur has seen a new pace of development in an environment of peaceful co-existence among different communities.
What is your assessment of the Congress? Some surveys suggest it will do well?
The Congress is Manipur’s principal opposition party. But in the last five years, its political graph has been going down. Winnable candidates, including sitting MLAs, are leaving it one after another. I can only say that surveys are always with an error margin.
Is the BJP better prepared than the Congress??
We prepare our own electoral strategy. The Congress would have also done its own. Results will tell us in black and white which one was better. Strategies alone will not work. People will definitely assess the actions of both parties.
The BJP had lost some seats with very small margins last time. How is the party strategising to win those seats?
We are formulating a composite strategy at the party level at the advice of senior leaders to win those seats.
What is your take on National People’s Party (NPP) and Naga People’s Front (NPF)?
NPP and NPF are our alliance partners. We respect their aspirations and honestly want to observe the coalition dharma.
Any tussle between the BJP and the NPP?
We are members of a larger family. Small differences might have occurred at times, but they were ironed out amicably.
As the campaign is largely in digital mode, how is the BJP reaching out to the voters?
We don’t reach the voters only at the time of elections. We are with them; we reach them and they reach us. We also have our IT team, but only digital mode won’t make us win. What will make us win is ‘dil se dil’ i.e. heart-to-heart mode. The medium may be over the phone, online or ‘heartline’.
What is your take on the demand for ST status to the Meiteis?
It is a demand of lakhs of people. What we need at this juncture — Meiteis being the major community in the state — is to bring about an understanding on the demand among the ethnic communities.
There have been some violent incidents in recent past. Do you think the polls can be held peacefully?
Democracy will prevail and those evil minds designing such violent acts will be defeated and the polls will be held peacefully.
Do you consider yourself as a CM candidate?
I am a loyal karyakarta (worker) of the party... Our party and our leaders will decide what will be my role and my personal consideration will be that only.