Two important posers ahead of 2017 polls : After Th Chaoba who ?
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: April 6 2016 -
Two important political questions.
The first obviously has to do with the dissent raised by some Congress MLAs and the other is how long will Th Chaoba continue as the president of the State BJP. No easy answers here and this applies to the two questions.
These questions are again interesting given the fact that Manipur will go to polls in the early part of next year and the BJP seems to be the only political party ready to give a good fight to the Congress.
In the hills it may not be the BJP all the way for the Naga People’s Front has already made its presence felt specially in the Naga dominated districts and no one can write off the distinct possibility of the NPF and the BJP coming together in the coming Assembly elections.
This is where the role of Prof Gangmumei Kamei, who has been appointed to the North Eastern Council by the BJP led NDA Government will become interesting.
Moreover remember Prof Kamei himself is a Naga.
This is about the BJP and the NPF in the hill districts and this brings one to the question of how long Th Chaoba will remain as the president of the State unit BJP. Common sense says that he is likely to retain the post until the end of the coming Assembly election, but then not for nothing is it said that common sense may be the most uncommon sense.
Moreover political equations work in such a way that there will be other factors more than common sense.
Perhaps the first test will be the coming election to the Imphal Municipal Corporation. This will also be a test for the new president of the MPCC, TN Haokip.
This is where the report that his position as the president of State BJP is under the scanner becomes all that more interesting.
Not an original BJP man, Th Chaoba has donned many a colour during his political career but significant to note that while he was with the MSCP, the party was part of the NDA Government when Atal Behari Vajpayee was the Prime Minister.
It was during this time that Th Chaoba was inducted into the Council of Ministers as a Minister of State.
Like numerous other political figures of the State, Chaoba did not stay with the MSCP for long and later switched to the Manipur People’s Party and then to the BJP.
This may be all about political survival but in the long run this may just work against him when it comes to the question of his position within the State BJP.
If at all Chaoba is made to go, the big question before the BJP will be, after him who ?
How many original BJP men as there within the State unit of the party ? How many grew up with the RSS ?
These are all important questions, for the BJP is undoubtedly a cadre based party.
And so it is that these two questions will occupy the minds of keen political watchers before hectic electioneering for the 2017 Assembly election kicks in.
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