Problem of plenty delays BJP ticket list in Manipur

The BJP convened its first ticket committee meeting in Imphal on Jan 21. Chief Minister Biren Singh, BJP state president A Sharda and state Minister Thongam Biswajit Singh were among those who attended it. Later on, the trio left Imphal to meet with the party’s central leaders to finalise the tickets. But with no official explanation from the party about the delay, an atmosphere of uncertainty prevails among aspiring candidates.

“I am one of the ticket aspirants. What is going on behind the scene is anybody’s guess. I believe the announcement might get delayed further,” a top party functionary said. “The party may, in order to minimise the damage, declare a partial list of candidates, covering constituencies where there is only one aspirant each, like the CM’s own constituency.”

A BJP leader closely involved with the party’s election management admitted things are difficult. “There are certain seats where the sitting MLA is an aspirant, and so is someone else who we promised the seat to — so there is definitely a lot of competition which has proved to be difficult for us,” he said, adding there was fear that disgruntled aspirants, who lose the race for tickets, may switch over to other parties such as the Congress and the NPP.

“And If NPP is not interested in allying later, it will be problematic for us. So we are being very careful about who we are giving tickets to. That’s why there is such a delay.”

One of the causes of disquiet in the BJP is leaders of other parties in the state joining the saffron party ahead of the elections. This has made the competition for ticket aspirants tougher.

On January 24, the BJP Kakching Mandal Yuva Morcha and Mahila Morcha warned the party leadership not to give tickets to former Congress MLA of Kakching constituency, Y Surchandra, three days after he switched over to the BJP.

Top leaders of Congress have been resigning from the party after being denied tickets. Among them is the vice president of Manipur Congress, E Dwijamani. He resigned from the party after he had failed to make it to the first list of 40 candidates.

In the 2017 Assembly election, the BJP secured only 21 seats but it went on to form the government with the help of smaller parties like NPP, NPF and some independent MLAs. The Congress then emerged as the the single largest party with 28 seats, but had to sit in the Opposition.

As the BJP is in power in the state and also at the Centre, it has become the party of choice for many who are aspiring to contest for the Assembly. The entry of Congress legislators and others to the BJP has made the competition for BJP tickets stiffer. The BJP has now over 30 MLAs in its fold in addition to other ticket aspirants within the party.