Issues likely to come back after LS polls : FA, ST, ILP demands
- The Sangai Express Editorial :: April 25 2019 -

With the Lok Sabha election process still on, it is not surprising to see that all gaze are on May 23, the date the election result is scheduled to be announced.

Just two MPs, but the importance of the election must not have been lost on the political leaders of Manipur, particularly leaders of the BJP and the Congress, the two principal political parties in the fray.

The high profile campaigns of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and AICC president Rahul Gandhi in the State must have registered in the minds of all adding more colour and interest in the run up to the elections.

The vote has been cast, including the repoll in the Inner Parliamentary Constituency and earlier in the Outer Parliamentary Constituency, underlining the point that not everything may have gone by the book.

So attention focused on the election, but this should not in any way dull the people, particularly the political leaders into a sense of complacency, for all the issues which have been dogging Manipur can be expected to re-emerge with more vigour once the dust over the election settles.

One obviously is the ongoing political dialogue between the NSCN (IM) and the Government of India.

If the BJP under Narendra Modi returns to power, one may expect the pace of the dialogue to pick up, for nothing substantive has been heard after New Delhi and the collective leadership of the NSCN (IM) signed the Framework Agreement on August 3, 2015.

Nearly four years down the line and obviously the demand that the dialogue be taken to its logical conclusion can be expected to be raised with more vigour once the election process winds up.

Other than the ongoing political dialogue between New Delhi and the NSCN (IM), there are other issues which will come back to keep the State Government and the people on their toes.

One obviously is the demand that a mechanism be put in place to check the influx of non-locals into the State.

True the Manipur People Bill has been passed by the State Assembly but it is yet to be given the nod by the Central Government.

The longer the Centre delays in taking action on the Bill, the more impatient the people will become, particularly the Joint Committee on Inner Liner Permit System (JCILPS).

This is where it becomes important for the BJP led Government at Imphal to impress on the Centre to do the needful.

Other than this, the demand raised by the Scheduled Tribe Demand Committee, Manipur to send a recommendation to the Centre that the Meiteis be included in the Scheduled Tribe list of the Constitution of India could be intensified and this could mean a stand off between those who stand by this demand and those who are opposed to the said demand.

And significant to note too that the opposition has come not only from the hill based organisations but also from amongst the Meitei community.

How the State Government walks the tight rope remains to be seen, but all the issues mentioned here have the potential to return and take centre stage.

The Lok Sabha election may just be the interregnum before these issues return with all their might.