Changing colour of politics
- Hueiyen Lanpao Editorial :: February 22, 2012 -

Satyajit Usham from the desk

How fast political parties and politicians can change their colour is becoming clearer with each passing day.

With a pledge to prevent the Congress-led Secular Progressive Front (SPF) government from returning to power in the state, five Opposition parties, namely, Manipur Peoples' Party (MPP), Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Janata Dal (United), CPM and RJD, set aside their ideological differences and entered into a pre-poll alliance under the name of People's Democratic Front (PDF) in the run up to the election to 10th Manipur Legislative Assembly, which was held on January 28 last.

In addition to the common mission of uprooting the Congress party from its saddle, PDF had in no uncertain term made it succinctly clear that under any circumstances it would go along with Naga People's Front (NPF) denouncing the latter to be a 'communal' political party working in the interest of Nagas only.

The declaration of election result is still awaited, but the PDF has already started singing a different tune. In its effort to rope in other non-Congress parties and come together under a common platform to stake claim for the formation of the next government in the state, PDF now maintained that there is no hard and fast rule that it could not ally with Congress or NPF.

What is to make out of this, if it isn't the changing colour of politics? Development in post-poll scenario has once again confirmed that party ideologies and promises made in election manifestos have little to do with election in the State and politicians change their colour at the drop of a hat.

Among the surprises emerging in the post-poll scenario, ten non-Congress political parties of the state including NPF recently held a closed-door meeting.

Though the speculation is doing the round that strategies for post-poll alliance had been discussed and worked out in the said meeting, state unit NCP President Radhabinod Koijam has taken extra pain and caution in trying to convince the people that the meeting discussed nothing but the issue of proxy voting and its rejection thereof at the time of counting of votes without the burden of going through another re-poll.

Now, the question is why the non-Congress parties convened a closed door meeting lasting several hours on a 'trifle' matter which have been already highlighted by almost all the political parties including Congress party?

That was where Mr Koijam lost his ground. When pressed for an answer on the exclusion of Congress party from the meeting to discuss proxy voting and the impending re-poll of which many political parties are not in favour; Mr Koijam's reply that it was a meeting of the like-minded political parties sound even more ridiculous.

Here, we would like to know, when did NPF, a political party which is seen as a threat to the territorial integrity of Manipur, qualified to become a like-minded political party?

Has Mr Koijam or for that matter, the rest of the leaders in PDF forgotten the hullabaloo created by these so-called like-minded political parties when the Manipur unit office of NPF was launched at Senapati in May 2011?

As far as we know, an all-party meeting had been convened and even the State Cabinet had taken a decision to oppose tooth and nail the supposed incursion of NPF in Manipur.

If the stand of the political parties can be so flexible and the promises made in the election manifestos have no bearing, would there be any element of surprise if PDF is found supping together with the Congress?

Not us, at least.