Interesting political developments : Likely impact on Congress
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: May 28 2019 -
Speculations are already doing the round on who may be in the Council of Ministers after Narendra Modi takes oath as the Prime Minister of the country on May 30.
Some will get it right and some won't but this is besides the point for there is yet another round of speculations doing the round on the fate of the Congress, especially in a place like Manipur, where party hopping by the people's representatives is a given and not the exception.
Even today, there are 8 MLAs previously elected on the Congress ticket but extending support to the BJP led Government here.
The reality stands that whichever party is in power at New Delhi is most likely to come to power at Imphal.
This is the truth and it is this reality that the Congress has to deal with.
Sure changes may come within the BJP led Government here, for this is all about coalition politics, but one wonders how the Congress will fare in the coming days.
Remember the BJP Government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be in power till 2024, and in this period anything can happen to the Congress in Manipur.
The aura of fifteen years in power is surely losing sheen at a fast pace and if care is not taken, Congress will have to lick the wounds not only from the drubbing it received at the hands of the BJP in the recent Lok Sabha polls, but also from those inflicted from within, especially by the party hoppers.
Grapevine has it that a number of Congress MLAs are already lining up to join the bandwagon of the BJP in the coming days and the next few days will surely be interesting.
As already noted earlier, with the BJP led Government at New Delhi secure for the next five years, that is at least till 2024, the BJP surely is placed in a comfortable position here till the next Assembly elections scheduled for 2022.
Given that everything favours the party in power, this fact would not have gone over the heads of the current Congress MLAs and this is where the oldest political party in the country will need to tread with care.
Remember it was due to the BJP being in power at the Centre that the BJP here was able to wrest power from the Congress though it had only 21 MLAs in its kitty compared to the 28 the Congress had after the 2017 Assembly elections.
And the situation can only get better for the BJP in the coming days, courtesy the excellent showing at the just held Lok Sabha elections.
This point too must have sunk into the consciousness of the Congress.
This however is not to say everything will be hunky dory for the State BJP.
Much will depend on how the final agreement with the NSCN (IM) is inked.
If the BJP is seen to have sold out the interest of Manipur then expect Manipur to erupt in protest and everything that can go wrong for the BJP will go wrong.
Much will also depend on how it deals with the other issues, such as the demand that a legislation be put in place to regulate the influx of non-locals, the demand that the Meiteis be included in the ST list of the Constitution of the country etc.
For the moment, the BJP is well set, but as noted, much will also depend on how it deals with some of the pressing issues, particularly, the ongoing negotiations with the NSCN (IM).
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