Interesting role of NPP, NPF : No pre--poll pact, but post poll?
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: January 04, 2022 -

No pre-poll pact as such but one wonders how the prognosis of some of the BJP leaders of the North East would have gone down with the NPP and the NPF, two important partners of the BJP led Government at Imphal.

Chief Minister N Biren is now not alone in calling out to the people to ensure a BJP Government, sans the support of coalition partners with his Assam counterpart, Himanta Biswa Sarma smugly proclaiming that the BJP will form the Government on its own after the Assembly election.

Too early to say how things will unfold in the near future, but such prognosis could not have gone down well with the NPP and the NPF.

While the NPF has preferred to maintain a stoic silence, as far as the composition of the next Government is concerned, the NPP has been quite vocal in airing its thoughts that no single political party would secure absolute majority on its own to form the Government.

Underlined in this observation is the point that the NPP is looking forward to playing a key role in Government formation after the Assembly election.

Unsaid but pregnant with meaning is also the point that the NPP cannot be ignored in Government formation.

Early days yet, but this is what has made the run up to the Assembly election all that more interesting.

While the fight is largely seen to be one between the BJP and the Congress, one cannot simply wish away the presence of the other political parties, such as the NPP and the NPF.

It is not the case of The Sangai Express to say which party is better placed to head or form the next Government, but Manipur has already seen and experienced how it is like to see a single political party holding complete sway after an Assembly election.

Remember the 2012 Assembly polls when the Congress romped home with 42 seats and increased it to 47 by merging the then MSCP which had five MLAs in its kitty.

It is amid this political climate that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to land here on January 4.

While numerous projects have been lined up for the Prime Minister to lay the foundation stones as well as inaugurate, the visit of the Prime Minister will be seen against the coming Assembly election.

Inaugurate projects and in the process reach out to the people to ensure that the BJP returns to power.

The timing is just right and even as the BJP led Government at Imphal has gone ahead to roll out the red carpet for the Prime Minister, the Congress too is sure to note each and every single word that Modi says here. Same too with the other political parties, such as the NPP and the NPF.

Other than the big two-BJP and the Congress-what would be of interest to the people is how the NPP and NPF will play out their cards, once the election result is announced.

Make their presence felt and be in a position not to play the smaller brother in case the situation demands a coalition Government, would be at the top of the agenda of either party.

As noted earlier here, the NPP has already spoken out its mind on more than one occasion and it is the studied silence of the NPF which is of interest to the people.

Will the NPF spring a surprise or two once the results start trickling in? More importantly can the NPF go one or two steps up better than its performance in 2017?

How the post poll scenario play out will depend to a large extent on how the NPP and the NPF fare at the hustings.

This is what will make the 2022 Assembly election all that more interesting.