Backing the BJP or piggy riding ? : Scripting the epitaph of the MPP ?
- Sangai Express Editorial :: March 24, 2014 -

It is not a victory for the BJP and it comes close to a defeat for the Manipur People’s Party, the oldest regional political party in the North East States.

And there are reasons, logical reasons to come up with this observation.

It certainly made news, no doubt but in announcing that the MPP has decided to back the BJP in the Inner as well as Outer Parliamentary Constituencies, will it really make any difference to the prospect of the BJP candidates ?

Forget about the Outer Parliamentary Constituency, does the MPP have any presence in the Inner seat ?

As for the MPP, in announcing that it would support the BJP candidates, it is in a way tacitly admitting that it is no longer in a position to nominate its own candidate, even in the Inner Parliamentary Constituency.

It may be interpreted as a politically tacit move, a move that may be read as the MPP not wanting to vanish from electoral politics and try to remain in the consciousness of the people as much as possible, but in the long run, it has all the ingredients to backfire.

To the MPP leadership, this decision may be seen as a clever political move, stay away from the polls so as not to taste defeat but yet at the same time remain in the public/political domain by backing the party which is most likely to wrest power at the Centre.

For the BJP too, the support extended by the MPP may not amount to much, that is as far as votes go, but in getting the MPP to back their candidates, maybe they are trying to convey the message that they are not untouchables to regional aspirations.

However to the keen political observers, this would not cut much ice.

The principal party opposed to the Congress in Manipur at one point of time, today the MPP is a pale shadow of its earlier self, with all is support bases being eroded a long, long time back.

In the hills the MPP as a political party has been a non-entity for decades, with the last MLA from this party dating back to TN Haokip when he was elected to the Assembly as an MPP candidate in 2000 from Saikot AC.

That Mr Haokip switched side to the Congress later in the 2002 election is a different matter.

Earlier before him there was the late Somi Shimray when he represented Chingai AC in the late 80s.

After Mr Haokip, there has not been a single MPP MLA from the hills of Manipur and today this has extended to the whole of Manipur with the party not able to send a single candidate to the 10th Assembly, the election for which was held in 2012. It is the same story too with the BJP.

With the NaMo wave sweeping across some parts of the country and with numerous poll pundits predicting the fall of the Congress led UPA Government, the State BJP too seems to be in an upward swing.

However the question central to this commentary is whether the support announced by the MPP to the BJP will have any impact on the outcome of the election or not here.

The MPP leadership may think otherwise, as their one point agenda is to defeat the Congress at any cost and the BJP seems to be the most likely party to hand out that defeat.

This is fine, but in extending support to the BJP, wouldn’t the MPP be writing its own epitaph ?

Riding on the shoulder of some other party, with which it has nothing in common, except defeat the Congress, will it do the MPP any good in the long run ?

We raise these questions with concern, for in many ways, the MPP is synonymous with the local aspirations of the people and the State.

In many ways, this party is the only one which taught us that without going to the ‘High Command’ it can chart out policies and programmes for the people by firmly being in touch with the people.

All these of course are part of history and in deciding to back the BJP, is the MPP trying to get back to it earlier avatar ?

Or is it piggy riding on a party for its sheer poverty of ideas ?

There may be two school of thoughts here.

One, the MPP would have done itself much better by staying away from electoral politics completely for some years and get down to the business of refurbishing itself and finding the right formula to get back on its feet while the other belongs to that school, that the only way for the MPP to remain in the public domain is to take part in electoral politics, never mind even it means piggy riding on another party.

The die has been cast, but as noted the BJP is not the victor here and as for the MPP it comes close to throwing in the towel.

It would be a tragedy to write the epitaph of the MPP now, but if not guided by political prudence, it may well turn out to be their Waterloo.