By-poll campaign gains momentum
Sarma sells 'Ministerial berth' of Lukhoi to woo Wangoi voters
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, November 03 2020: With the by-election to the four Assembly segments of Wangoi, Saitu, Lilong and Wangjing-Tenth just three days away, electioneering and campaignings have reached the ultimate momentum.

NEDA Convenor and Assam Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and Chief Minister Nongthombam Biren campaigned hard for BJP candidate O Lukhoi at Wangoi today.

Addressing an election rally held at Wangoi Keithel today, Himanta Biswa Sarma said that O Lukhoi is the first man to contest election for the post of MLA after becoming a Minister, and this is a big gift of Chief Minister N Biren to Wangoi AC.

"I have been winning elections in Assam since 2001 .

People voted for me so that I can become an MLA and Minister, if possible", Himanta said.

But in Wangoi AC, Chief Minister N Biren has already gifted a Ministerial berth to O Lukhoi before fielding him as a BJP candidate in the by-election.

It is up to the people of Wangoi AC whether O Lukhoi should remain a Minister or not, he said.

Himanta said that he was with Congress party until he joined BJP in 2016 .

If one looks back at the history of Manipur before 2017 when Congress party was in power, the most common incidents of Manipur were bandhs and blockades, he remarked.

For one reason or another, there were bandhs and blockades on regular basis, and people were compelled to launch agitations of different forms one after another, he said.

Then Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to Imphal in the run up to the 2017 Assembly election and promised that bandhs and blockades would be put to an end if BJP was elected to power in Manipur, he recalled.

As long as BJP exists, there would not be any challenge to the territorial integrity of Manipur, asserted the NEDA convenor.

With the installation of the BJP-led Biren Government, bandhs and blockades have become distant memory and Manipur is marching ahead on the path of development, he further claimed.

Before the Citizenship Amendment Bill was passed, Chief Minister N Biren together with representatives of different CSOs and political parties met Union Home Minister Amit Shah and urged the Central Government to extend ILPS to Manipur.

One need not be reminded about how Manipur was brought within the ambit of ILPS all of a sudden and CAA was kept out of Manipur, against the general expectation of the masses, Himanta said.

Now no force can pose any threat to the culture, identity and integrity of Manipur, he asserted before asking the gathering if any Prime Minister other than Narendra Modi fulfilled such aspirations of the people of Manipur.

Calling upon the people of Manipur to abandon Congress party, Himanta remarked that NPP is a political party which has very little presence in the country.

If the people vote for either Congress or NPP, the MLA of Wangoi AC would sit on Opposition bench, he said.

Chief Minister N Biren reiterated that O Lukhoi resigned from the State Assembly to save the BJP-led Government from those 'demons' who were conspiring to pull down the Government.

Acknowledging Lukhoi's sacrifice, Prime Minister Narendra Modi sent Himanta Biswa Sarma to campaign for Lukhoi, Biren said.

Earlier, Himanta and Biren campaign for Abdul Nasir at Lilong.

Although Abdul Nasir is fighting the by-election as an independent candidate, he is being supported by BJP.

The election rally held at Wangoi was also attended by Education Minister S Rajen, MLAs Dr Sapam Ranjan, L Radhakishore, L Susindro, MPs Dr RK Ranjan, Leishemba Sanajaoba and BJP Manipur Pradesh president S Tikendra.

Speaking at the election meeting of Abdul Nasir at Lilong, N Biren said that people need to understand why Abdul Nasir chose to fight the by-election as an Independent candidate instead of contesting the election on BJP ticket.

Questioning for whose sake Abdul Nasir resigned from the State Assembly, Biren urged the people to give him more MLAs like Abdul Nasir in order to transform Manipur into a golden land.

By resigning from the State Assembly, Abdul Nasir sacrificed everything for he feared that Manipur might revert to its earlier very sorry state.

Had those five/six MLAs not resigned, Manipur would have fallen into a very precarious condition at the hands of those people who spewed venoms with the ulterior motive to create animosity among different sections of the society, Biren said.

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