GUWAHATI: The BJP, which heads Manipur’s coalition government, is facing the problem of plenty as it gears up to contest the two-phase Assembly elections.
For a party, selecting candidates for an election is always a difficult job. What compounded the BJP’s problem is that it has two to three ticket aspirants in each of the state’s 60 constituencies.
This has apparently delayed the process of selection of candidates. There is a perception that a section of the aspirants, who will miss the bus, might go to ally National People’s Party (NPP) and opposition Congress to contest the polls.
The BJP admitted every political party goes through this phase ahead of an election but said it would manage everything. The party denied facing any problem at the moment.
“The names of the candidates will be declared, tentatively within this month. It’s true there are many aspirants but every political party faces this situation before any elections. It is the right of every party worker to seek a ticket for contesting an election,” state BJP president A Sharda Devi told The New Indian Express on Saturday.
“We have a process to follow before selecting the candidates. That process is on,” she added.
NPP and Congress have not also declared the names of their candidates so far. Requesting anonymity, an NPP leader said the party wanted BJP to declare the names of its candidates first.
“Many BJP ticket aspirants are in touch with our state leaders as well as national president (Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma). They are requesting us to keep on hold the declaration of the names of candidates as they are not sure if they will be fielded by their party,” he claimed.
The BJP rubbished his claim. The NPP leader also said that the party had finalised 26 candidates and their names would be declared after January 26.
The Congress said a list, containing the names of 52 candidates finalised by the party’s state unit, had been submitted to the central leadership for approval.
“The names will be declared in a phase-wise manner,” state Congress spokesperson K Debabrata said.
The polls will be held on February 27 and March 3. So far, only the Community Party of India has declared the names of two candidates.