No common opp candidates for Manipur LS election

Proposed fielding of common candidates in the two Lok Sabha seats by the opposition political parties in Manipur seemed to be a far cry as after BJP Manipur Pradesh hinted of going alone in the elections, the CPI Manipur state council has projected its candidate in one of the seats in the elections due early next year.

With the sole objective of defeating the Congress in both the Lok Sabha seats in Manipur, 12 political parties in the state have held several rounds of meetings to form a common platform of the opposition since the humiliating suffered by them in the 2012 elections to the Manipur Legislative Assembly which Ibobi-led Congress returned to power for third consecutive term.

The efforts seemed to have gone in vain as with the approaching of the Lok Sabha elections, major political parties of the 12 opposition parties were parting one another.

Despite having open protest from some of the opposition parties, the CPI Manipur State Council, it one of its council’s meeting held on Friday resolved to its incumbent state secretary Dr M Nara to send out as party candidate in the Inner Manipur Parliamentary Constituency in the forthcoming 16th Lok Sabha election.

The announcement was amidst the strong protest from the Manipur People’s Party (MPP) and BJP state unit from the beginning when the CPI has hinted fielding Nara as consensus candidate of the opposition parties in the inner seat of the Lok Sabha.

Recently, the state BJP has expressed its willingness to go alone by fielding party candidates in the elections, asserting that fielding of a consensus common candidate by the opposition parties is now appearing more and more remote even though efforts are still on to field a common candidate.

While the opposition parties were parting each other, ruling Congress in Manipur had already invited applications from nominating as its candidates in the forthcoming elections.

With the list of the applicant, chief minister O Ibobi Singh has met with party high command during his camping in New Delhi. Ibobi who was camping in New Delhi came back today in Imphal.