Switching side from BJP to Congress :: BJP on slippery ground
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: December 23 2016 -
Things are certainly not looking good for the State BJP. From a high to a low.
This is how the script has turned out for the BJP, even as the next Assembly election is fast approaching.
If it was Th Chaoba who openly rebelled against Prahlad Patel, the man who has been put in charge of Manipur, this has been capped off by the resignation of MLA Kh Joykishan from the party.
On the other hand the Congress seems to be on a high, having scored maximum points at Kangpokpi and Jiribam districts and remember, Kangpokpi district gets to send three MLAs to the State Assembly.
Making things worse for the State BJP is obviously the point that Kh Joykishan joined the Congress right after resigning from the BJP and herein lies the art of politicking, which Chief Minister O Ibobi seems to have mastered.
By any calculation, the Congress seems set to do well in the valley area, which elects 40 MLAs.
And this will certainly not be good news for the BJP which at one point appeared to be riding the feel good factor generated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The equation today has changed and making things worse for the BJP is the point that the Centre, which is under the BJP, does not seem to be doing much to get the economic blockade lifted. This is a point which will be exploited by the Congress.
In admitting Kh Joykishan to the Congress, the party has also erased the prospect of W Jyotin, the man who has been holding the flag of the Congress in Thangmeiband Assembly Constituency.
Remember W Jyotin has contested the last three election from this AC as a Congress candidate, first in 2007 then in 2012 and again in the by election held in 2015.
On all the three counts, he had to taste defeat and obviously the Congress wanted to bank on a candidate who appear to have a better prospect, that is win the election.
The vote is yet to be caste, but it is more than obvious that to the Congress, Joykishan appears to be a better bet than Jyotin and this is something which must have been drawn from the past.
So everything going well for the Congress, while nothing seems to be going right for the BJP at the moment.
Moreover remember there are at least 4/5 intending BJP candidates in the other Constituencies and how the saffron party deals with this question will go a long way in determining its performance in the election.
In Y Erabot, N Biren, Francis Ngajokpa, the BJP may have managed to make inroads into the citadels of the Congress, but equally true too that the Congress has hit back at Thangmeiband, Keishamthong, Wangoi, Oinam, Andro, Saitu, Saikul, Kangpokpi etc.
The battle line is drawn, but at present the wind seems to blowing in favour of the Congress and it is time for the State BJP to come out with some political master strokes.
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