Worried Congress Sends Anti-Poaching Team To Manipur

NEW DELHI: Amid speculation of a hung Assembly in Manipur, the Congress has dispatched three observers to the State to oversee the post-poll scenario.

In 2017 the Congress, even after being the single-largest party, had failed to form the Government in Manipur.

The party has assigned TS Singhdeo, senior Minister in the Chhattisgarh Government, Vincent Pala and Mukul Wasnik.

The Congress has asked all its observers and party in-charges to keep tabs on all its newly-elected MLAs and inform the central leadership about the same on the counting day on March 10. This is being done to keep its flock together, said sources.

Karnataka Congress president DK Shivakumar has been sent to Goa to monitor and strategize there. Sources in the Congress said that he is going to camp in Goa for three days to ensure that the age-old party, which missed a chance to form the Government by a whisker in the last Assembly elections, does not commit the same mistakes again. Shivakumar is going to stay put in Goa till the new Government is formed, sources added.

Apart from the senior observers, the party has also another set of leaders in States where the party is anticipating a close contest or hung Assembly. P Chidambaram is a senior observer of Goa, Jairam Ramesh in Manipur, Mohan Prakash in Uttarakhand, Bhupesh Baghel in Uttar Pradesh and Ajay Maken is in Punjab. The party in-charges have also been asked to remain in the respective States from March 10.

Sources say that the Congress wants to protect its MLAs from being poached and is likely to shift them after March 10.

The Congress fears poaching as happened in 2017 when despite emerging as a single largest party in Goa and Manipur, the party could not form the Governments. The Congress is anticipating a similar kind of poaching in all the four States and in Uttar Pradesh also, which might witness a hung Assembly, sources said.

Meanwhile, despite fractured predictions by most of the exit polls on Monday, the two dominant political parties in Manipur - the ruling BJP and the main Opposition Congress - are confident of forming the Government in the Northeastern State after the declaration of Assembly election results on March 10.

Manipur witnessed a hung Assembly in the previous polls in 2017, and this time too most of the exit polls' predictions indicate another hung House.

Claiming that his party is confident of forming the Government in Manipur, State Congress spokesman KH Debabrata said that the ruling BJP has used militants and other unethical methods to retain power, but the people of the State have given their verdict against the ruling party.

"The BJP Government and its leaders turned Manipur into 'Moneypur'. During the elections, the BJP leaders utilized underground militants, goons and muscle power. The BJP Government at the Centre and in the State gave Rs 16 crore to the militants just before the polls to influence the voters," the Congress leader said.

Union Minister and BJP's Manipur election in-charge Pratima Bhoumik said that there is no doubt that the BJP is coming to power in Manipur for a second term with absolute majority.

"People of Manipur have become fed up with the Congress. Their mis-governance for many years encouraged the militant outfits to grow. Blockades and bandhs (shut down) were regular affairs during the Congress regime. Hence, the people of the state this time rejected the party whole-heartedly," Bhoumik said.

Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh had earlier said that the BJP would get at least 40 seats in the 60-member House.

Another Manipur in-charge of the BJP and the party's national spokesperson, Sambit Patra, tweeted: "The BJP is set to come back with a firm majority in the States we were in the Government - Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur. Our focus area was majorly empowerment - of women, youth, poor and needy and farmers among other sectors."

The leaders of the National People's Party (NPP), BJP's estranged ally, and Janata Dal (United), are also claiming that they would play a vital role in Government formation. The two parties fielded 38 candidates each this time.

NPP general secretary for Manipur, Sheikh Noorul Hassan, said that in the previous Assembly elections, the party had secured four seats, but this time it will bag more than 20 seats to become a formidable political force in Manipur. (IANS)

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