BJP Manipur list out; 3 MLAs dropped for Congress turncoats

Chief Minister N Biren Singh will be contesting from his home constituency of Heingang. Only three of the 60 candidates in the list are women.

Manipur CM N Biren Singh's son-in-law RK Imo Singh is the richest candidate contesting the polls. (File photo)

Battling a problem of plenty in ticket aspirants, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) released on Sunday its much-awaited list of candidates for elections to the 60-member Legislative Assembly.

While Chief Minister N Biren Singh will be contesting from his home constituency, Heingang, the party has refused tickets to three sitting MLAs. Only three of the 60 candidates in the list are women.

The BJP list comes four days behind its own deadline for the announcement. Many believe the saffron party was having a tough time choosing candidates, with four to five ticket aspirants in every constituency. The delay was also causing disquiet among ticket aspirants facing a tough competition many leaders of other parties, such as the Congress, had joined the party ahead of the elections.

In Sunday’s list, the party has dropped senior MLA Y Irabot Singh and given the ticket from his Wangkhei seat to Congress turncoat Okram Henry Singh, the nephew of former Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh. In Moirang, M Prithviraj has replaced MLA P Saratchanra, while in Kakching, the party has fielded Y Surchandra instead of the sitting legislator M Rameshwar Singh. While Surchandra had joined the party earlier in January, Okram Henry and Prithviraj came aboard last year.

Another former Congress leader, Th Shyamkumar Singh, who had supported the BJP government in forming the government in 2017 despite falling short of seats, will contest from Andro constituency.

The replacements have caused anger among many ticket aspirants in the party, with angry workers in many constituencies burning BJP flags and banners in protest. In Sagolband, where the party has fielded Congress turncoat RK Imo Singh, BJP workers ransacked the mandal office and uploaded a video on social media threatening to close it down. RK Imo, the son-in-law of incumbent Chief Minister N Biren Singh, switched over to the BJP from Congress November last year.

Of the 20 seats in the hills, however, the BJP has retained all its six MLAs along with the new entrants from other parties. In Nungba, it has fielded retired IAS officer Dinganglung Gonmei against veteran Congress leader Gaikhangam. In Henglep and Tamenglong, where two BJP MLAs defected to Congress, it has fielded new faces, including a retired bureaucrat.

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The three women candidates named in Sunday’s list are SS Olish from Chandel, Kangpokpi MLA Nemcha Kipgen and S Kebi Devi from Naoriyapakhanglakpa constituency. Devi, a political greenhorn, will be contesting against former BJP MLA S Subashchandra Singh, who was disqualified after he switched over to the Congress.

In Thoubal, the party has fielded L Basanta Singh against former Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh. In Uripok, the party has fielded a retired bureaucrat Kh. Raghumani Singh against NPP MLA and deputy Chief Minister Y Joykumar Singh.