Th Chaoba : Living up to his literal name : Modi wave with a difference
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: June 06 , 2014 -

In a way the State unit of the Congress was both right and wrong.

The assertion of the MPCC (I) that the Modi wave would not impact on Manipur turned out to be the Biblical truth as the two BJP candidates in the Outer and Inner Parliamentary seats lost but look at it from a different perspective and it should be clear that they were wrong.

After the Modi wave whitewashed the Congress at the hustings, the Modi wave is beginning to make its presence felt in Manipur now.

The contradictions between pre-poll and post-poll situations cannot get more clear than this. February 8, 2014.

It should now be more than clear that this is the day that the State unit of the BJP set a date with history.

Not that it had an impact on the outcome of the election, but Modi did create some sort of a history when he addressed one of the biggest election rallies in Manipur at Langjing Achouba ground on February 8.

Die hard supporters of the BJP went to the extent of stating that it was the biggest election rally ever witnessed in Manipur, but this is besides the point.

The Modi wave then can be read in a different way in Manipur.

No positive results in the election but now the State unit of the BJP is full of vim and energy, breathing down the neck of the State unit of the Congress party.

Virtually a political non-entity a few months back, today the BJP in Manipur appears to be the only political party which can take on the might of the Congress.

This is all that more significant in the face of the fact that the BJP does not have a single MLA in the House of 60.

It is not only the BJP sweeping the Lok Sabha polls which has helped the cause of the State unit of the BJP, but also other factors, such as the infighting within the Trinamool Congress and the gradual decline of the MPP.

Mr Th Chaoba is today literally living up to his name as a big man in State politics.

With numerous political workers, both heavy weights and others, knocking at the door of the BJP, it should now be clear that the State BJP is going from strength to strength.

The Modi wave impacting on Manipur, albeit in a different way, if one may add. It is also interesting to note that it is not the State Government which has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to include the Imphal-Jiribam stretch of NH-37 in his 100 days action plan programme, but the State BJP. With one single written missive, the BJP has scored two goals against the Congress Government here.

For one it has demonstrated that it is in a position to get in touch with the Prime Minister and highlight issues which are of importance to the people and secondly it has also shown that what the State Government failed to do when the UPA was in power at the Centre for ten years, it has done so within a few weeks of the BJP led NDA Government coming to power at Delhi.

A powerful political message that it is only the BJP which can highlight matters of public interest to Delhi.

This is certainly not an exercise in eulogising the State unit of the BJP or predicting that the BJP is the next party which will form the Government when the Assembly election is held in 2017.

Far from it, this is not more than a commentary on how the Modi wave has made an impact on Manipur in a way which is totally different from the rest of the country.