Who will get the ticket is the question now : Lining up for BJP, Cong
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: March 16 2019 -

At the moment it is not so much a question of who will get elected in the two Parliamentary Constituencies but who will get the ticket of the party they are after.

Not surprising for the present is at that stage of time when the two principal political parties are yet to name their candidates but many have lined up for the same.

So it is that any talk related to the upcoming Lok Sabha elections invariably centres around who will get which party’s ticket.

At the moment, the CPI has already announced the name of Dr M Nara as its choice in the Inner Parliamentary Constituency while the NPP has named Thangminlen Kipgen as its name in the Outer Parliamentary seat.

The JD (U) too has named Hangkhanpao Taithul as its man in the Outer.

Throw in an Independent candidate who has already announced that he would be contesting the elections on his own without any party affiliation in the Inner Parliamentary Constituency and the script seems set to see an interesting Lok Sabha elections.

Not surprising but all eyes seem set on the two principal political parties, but the poll battle will start on the right note for either side in choosing the right candidate.

This is where it will become interesting.

No candidates named but significant to note that the Congress has not hesitated from officially giving the names of those who have lined up for the party’s ticket in the two Parliamentary Constituencies, while the BJP has so far not come out with anything official on those seeking the party’s ticket.

In the face of the BJP not officially saying anything on who have lined up for the party’s ticket, it is only the grapevine that the media has to rely on.

And so it is that the grapevine says that presently there are 16 in line for the BJP’s ticket in the Inner Parliamentary Constituency and 10 in the Outer Parliamentary Constituency.

And as observed here earlier, how well the BJP does will depend to a large extent on the choice of its candidate.

Manipur today is no longer the same when Parliamentary elections did not evoke much interest but with the coming of the BJP led NDA Government at the Centre under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, today this is no longer the case.

The sense of involvement that the Prime Minister has been able to instil in the people of the North East has gone a long way in eliciting interests in the Lok Sabha elections and this is where the BJP needs to place optimum stress on the choice of its candidate.

Will it project a self made man, an individual who can do something for the State on the floor of the Lok Sabha or it will go for the tried and tested and rely on names ?

Moreover what is it that the people want ?

This is an important question for both the BJP and the Congress.

Will the two parties be in the position to say they want someone who can do something meaningful for the people and not merely line their own pockets once they make it to the Lok Sabha ?

The course of earning the faith of the people in political parties should start from the choice of candidate.

This is the way to go about it.