Issues before Parliamentary polls : 'Final pact' tops it all
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: November 02 2018 -
MU crisis addressed satisfactorily, best exemplified by the start of the new academic session in most of the departments.
ILPS demand tackled to a certain extent with the State Assembly having passed the Manipur People Bill during the last Assembly session.
It however remains to be seen whether the Bill will receive the Presidential nod or not to become an Act.
Other issues which are yet to be addressed and which can rear its head anytime in the coming days are the demand that a proposal be sent to the Centre to include the Meiteis in the ST category of the Constitution of India and obviously the ongoing dialogue between the Government of India and the NSCN (IM).
More than obvious that the State will go to polls with these issues riding on the back of the people during the Parliamentary elections in the early part of next year-2019.
And it remains that it is the latter point which can impact on the voting behaviour of the people and it will be interesting to see how the BJP led Government, both at New Delhi and Imphal, try to win over the people on the back of the Framework Agreement, the details of which no one seems to know.
To be sure the Congress will try to whip up this issue to win over the people and this is a political reality which must have dawned on the leadership of the State BJP, particularly Chief Minister N Biren and State unit president K Bhabananda.
And it stands that as long as this issue figures big on the agenda of any major political party, Manipur will see a deeply divided voting pattern in the Inner Parliamentary seat and the Outer Parliamentary seat.
Nothing will explain this better than the mega rally organised in Imphal by the United Committee Manipur and the 12 hours bandh clamped by the United Naga Council on October 31.
That both fed off each other would not be an over statement and it remains that if the UNC had not imposed the bandh, the rally at Imphal may not have seen since a huge turn out.
Likewise the bandh may not have been so effective if there was no rally in Imphal.
A clear indication of the deep divide between the hills and the valley, when it comes to protecting the interest of Manipur.
It is this divide which will come to the fore when Parliamentary elections come knocking at the doors and this is where it will be interesting to see how the BJP addresses this issue.
Will there be any other issue which can overshadow the ongoing dialogue in the Inner seat ?
Likewise too for the hills. Again it stands that there could also be a deep divide between the two major communities in the Outer seat.
The masala for the upcoming Parliamentary elections is there for all to see.
It just remains how the chefs of the two principal parties prepare the masala and use the same to add taste to the promises they will sell to the voters.
The party which deals with the matter more effectively will certainly have an edge over the other, for remember to the people of Manipur no other issue can be bigger than the final outcome of the peace talk between the NSCN (IM) and the Government of India.
This observation will hold true for people on either side of the Lim divide.
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