Bimol Akoijam, an associate professor of Jawaharlal Nehru University’s School of Social Sciences, won the Inner Manipur seat on a Congress ticket by a margin of over a lakh in the recently concluded Lok Sabha polls. This election was Akoijam’s electoral debut — he was one of the two Congress candidates who swept Manipur’s two parliamentary seats this election. According to Akoijam, he decided to join active politics following the outbreak of the ongoing ethnic conflict in the state. In his interview with The Indian Express, he talks about how the conflict has impacted the election, what his priorities will be and what kind of equation he hopes to have with the BJP-led N. Biren Singh government in the state. What is your assessment of why people voted in the Congress in both Manipur seats? This is no rhetoric, it’s a fact — this is a win of the people of the state. The people of the state have spoken. It is a clear message that nobody likes lawlessness, misgovernance, and (that) it has gone too far. It is not my victory — it is a victory of the people of Manipur. And it is a clear message: “Don’t take Manipur for granted”. You can’t take the people of the state for granted. We had seen violence in the constituency you had contested in on polling day and you had alleged that Congress polling agents were being threatened. This doesn’t seem to have affected your performance. If not for the violence and the malpractices, we would have won it by maybe 1.5 lakh or 2 lakh votes. From what we were tracking, it would definitely have been a minimum margin of 1.5 (lakh) if polling would have been conducted fairly. What do you think your equation would be like with the BJP-led government in the state? In the parliamentary form of democracy, as far as public issues are concerned, we have to find commonalities. The fact (is) that a peaceful, lawful state is favourable for any party, (and) we will look for common ground to work together. They may be political adversaries but they are not enemies. We need to work together for the state and the people. We have to chart it out together based on the common ground and I will be looking out and working on that. Are you in touch with your Outer Manipur colleague Alfred K. Arthur on the road ahead? We met but it was a formal function and we are both very busy at the moment, so we didn’t get a chance to talk much. But we will definitely be meeting more frequently. I can get a sense of our similarities besides the fact that we are from the same party. I can sense that he is sincere. What is first on your agenda as a new MP? Obviously, it’s related to the crisis that has befallen my state. I will be working and addressing issues arising from this crisis that has been affecting us for more than one year. Among them would be to look into the people in the relief camps. I will ensure that their issues are not pushed under the carpet, forgotten and normalised. I will be working to ensure that they return to their homes, and lead a peaceful and dignified life. I will also be exploring avenues to ameliorate their sufferings at the moment from different sources. That is my intention. Where do you think the Congress victories in the state in the general elections places the BJP-led state government? They are on shaky ground, that’s all I would say.
