A long-distance fight

Robindro was charged under the National Security Act NSA after a young Manipuri caught with ephedrine,an illicit chemical,named him as the kingpin of

KCP,one of Manipurs biggest militant groups.

With the son of the family behind bars and yet contesting the elections,the responsibility of campaigning fell on the Tongbrams and the villagers of Keiranphabi,located in the interiors of Thanga constituency,apart from Trinamool Party workers.

On Friday,a day before the election in Manipur,the bright blue cottage,the centre of the Trinamools election activity in the area,remains unmarked,the only sign of activity being the streams of people entering the Tongbram home. Endless cups of tea and green gabled glasses full of spinach juice are churned out of the kitchen for the workers and neighbours who visit the family every day. On one side of the courtyard is a makeshift shed that is strewn with bedding for the helpers who will carry out election work for the family through the night.

We will win despite all our disadvantages. The people in the locality are fed up with the non-performance of the sitting Congress MLA. Pensioners do not get their pension,the PDS system does not work,the MLA development fund has barely been spent. This is my sons poll plank for this election, says Robindros 70-year-old father Tongbram Tompok.

A History Hons graduate from Hansraj College in Delhi University and a student of DPS,Mathura Road,in Delhi before that,Robindro came back to his home state and started a chit fund for his community in Keiranphabi. He later started an integrated farm that had a piggery and a fishery. Robindro married,raised a family of two young sons,adopted a third son from a poor Jharkhand labourer and took to social work,says his wife Tongbram Priyadarshini. In early 2010,villagers approached the Tongbram family and appealed to Robindro to contest the upcoming Assembly elections. After a little persuasion,he agreed.

In April 2011,a small news item in the local Manipuri newspapers told of a Manipuri youth who had been arrested by the Delhi Police and had been found in possession ephedrine. During interrogation,the boy named Robindro and alleged that he was the kingpin of the operation.

Two months later,a team of West Imphal commandos visited the Tongbrams in Imphal and asked the couple to accompany them to the superintendent of police. Robindro spent the day at the police station and was let off in the evening. Two days later,he was told he would have to visit Delhi.

After he went there,the Delhi Police slapped a number of cases against him. The boy they arrested earlier had said that my husband was behind the drug racket and that he was the kingpin of KCP. All this was rubbish,says Robindros wife Tongbram Priyadarshini,who is herself an assistant commando with the Manipur Police.

Unlike in other parts of the state where Trinamool flags are visible,Thanga constituency has few flags. This has been a turbulent belt. Nobody wants to demonstrate their allegiance to any party. Just a couple of days ago,we heard of a party supporter being kidnapped. He was released in a few hours so that turned out okay, says Robindros father Tongbram.

We all have been taking turns to campaign. We have divided the constituency amongst the family members. For instance,there are villages where my wife has family and friends. So she visits these villages with a group of women and asks them to vote. I handle other areas,my youngest son handles some. There are over 50 members in our extended family who live in this assembly constituency and each has been put in charge of something or the other, he says.