Putting Manipur on the map of LS poll :: From NaMo to RaGa now
- Sangai Express Editorial :: March 22, 2014 -

Rahul Gandhi at a public meeting at Wangjing Kodompokpi on 19 March 2014 :: Pix - Rabi Takhellambam

Each vote counts. Each MP counts, especially in this age when coalition Government has become the order of the day.

And so it is that though Manipur gets to send only two MPs to the Lok Sabha, the two biggest crowd puller from both the BJP and the Congress have landed here to sell their idea and woo the voters.

From February 8, 2014, Langjing Achouba ground to March 19 Wangjing Kodompokpi ground, the BJP and the Congress have drawn the battle line.

From NaMo to RaGa now.

With 42 MLAs in a House of 60 the Congress strength was there for all to see on March 19, when the not so young Gandhi scion addressed the public at Wangjing Kodompokpi ground.

With not a single MLA in a House of 60, the NaMo wave was there on full display when he addressed a mammoth public gathering on February 8 at Langjing Achouba ground. Comparisons are bound to be made and while comparisons are indeed interesting, there is always the possibility of the subjective creeping in defeating the very purpose for which the comparisons are made.

In the absence of a head count or a scientific methodology to arrive at the figure of attendance in the two said meetings, it would be futile to say which of the two election rally had a larger turn out.

But it is important to keep in mind that Narendra Modi was able to attract a large number of people to Langjing Achouba with not a single BJP MLA in the Assembly while there are 42 Congress MLAs who could mobilise the people from their respective Assembly Constituencies.

This is important to keep in mind. Shift the focus on what the two leaders had to say during their visit to Manipur and nothing significant, which have a direct bearing on the lives of the people were addressed to or talked about. Narendra Modi skipped AFSPA and so did Rahul Gandhi.

How about the other pressing issues that the two leaders dwelt on or skipped ?

Time for the people to ponder over these, for in many ways what they said and did not say should give a fair idea of where Manipur stands in the eyes of the BJP and the Congress.

Rahul Gandhi and by extension the Congress is an old hand in Manipur. Remember the much publicised ‘stopped by a road side tea stall and had tea while heading towards the airport’ when Rahul Gandhi visited Manipur some time back.

In contrast, Narendra Modi is a new face here. The only thing people know about him is how he has been able to transform Gujarat, so much so that the Gujarat model of development is talked about across the country.

On the other hand he has also earned a degree of notoriety, what with all the allegations of the ‘pogrom’ unleashed against the Muslims in Gujarat more than 10 years back.

That the Court has given him the clean chit is a different matter, but it would be difficult to completely neutralise this, what with not only the Congress but also other political parties training their guns on him over the shoulder of the mass massacre of Muslims in Gujarat many years back.

Lest it is misunderstood, this write up is not in any way to suggest that the election is going to be a two party affair.

Remember there is Dr Nara as well as Manaobi of the TC in the Inner Parliamentary Constituency and the presence of the NPF, the TC and JD (U) in the Outer Parliamentary Constituency cannot be written off that easily.

The battle lines have been drawn and there are bound to be poll pundits, comparing the visit of NaMo and RaGa in the next few days.

Some may be interesting while some may be downright outrageous.

What however is a welcome change is the fact that the people of Manipur have slowly come around to the importance of the Lok Sabha election, a welcome departure from the earlier days when the Parliamentary election was referred to as just Delhi election, as if it did not have any bearing on the State at all.