Congress takes solace in Manipur

Good news for the Congress came only from Manipur, where chief minister O Ibobi Singh led the party to its third consecutive victory. In the 60-member Assembly, the Congress won 42 seats.

The party managed to improve its 2007 tally of 30 seats by 12. The Congress’ victory came even as the state was in a three-month-long blockade before the elections.

A significant feature in this election was a new factor — the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress making its presence felt in the state, winning seven seats. The Naga People’s Front (NPF) managed to get four seats. The lower-than-expected tally of NPF could affect the demand of Greater Nagaland, as the NPF wanted to use the election to garner support for its Greater Nagaland cause. The BJP failed to get even a single seat.

 

MANIPUR
Party	Seats won
	2007	2012
INC	30 (34.30)*	42
MPP/LJSP#	5 (15.45)	1
IND/AITC #	10 (19.51)	7
NCP	5 (8.58)	1
CPI /Others #	4 (5.79)	5
RJD	3(6.67)	-
NPF	3 (3.46)	4
Total	60	60
*Numbers in parenthesis represent vote %;  # Parties didn’t contest in 2007

The chief minister retained his seat from Thoubal, defeating the nearest rival BJP’s O Indira by over 10,000 votes. Ibobi Singh’s wife, Landhoni Devi, also won in her Khangabok seat, defeating rival Jatra Singh of the Manipur People’s Party by 9,000 votes.

AGENDA**

*  Pushing the Centre to provide Constitutional safeguard for the 
territorial integrity of Manipur
* Working for the improvement of the law and order situation

OPPORTUNITIES & CHALLENGES

*  Decision on lifting Armed Forces Special Powers Act
*  Ensuring peace with militants
* Settlement of the issue of Greater Nagaland

**Winning party’s poll promise

However, doubts remained over who would be the next CM, with media reports suggesting the Congress in New Delhi favours Y Erabot Singh over Ibobi Singh.