Source: Hueiyen News Service
Imphal, March 26 2009:
A woman candidate for the coming Lok Sabha election has emerged in the poll fray to wrestle against several veteran heavyweights in the inner Manipur Parliamentary Constituency.
Announcing her candidature for the ensuing election, the 47 year-old Loitongbam Khetrani told media persons at her home located at Sagolband Bijoy Govinda Sapham Leikai here today that she is contesting the upcoming Lok Sabha election in the Rastriya Bahujan Congress Party (RBCP) ticket.
L Khetrani said that the party ticket was awarded to her on March 17 by the National President of the party, Bharat Singha after a meeting with him on March 15. Claiming that she is not a novice in politics, Khetrani said that she had been associated with the Manipur People's Party (MPP), Manipur State Congress Party (MSCP), MNC and RJD earlier before joining the RBCP.
She has been the present President of the RBCP, Manipur State.
She is also recommended for the post of North-East President of RBCP.
She said that the RBCP got the first foothold in Manipur among the entire North East states.
A nine-member Central Executive Committee of the party has also been formed, she said while adding that the election campaign of the party will be launched soon.
To bring the women of Manipur at par with their counterparts of other Indian states, to take the issue of unemployment in the state to the Parliament, to empower women of the state, are some of her precedence which she is determined to address.
Khetrani lamented that no governments in the state have so far addressed the empowerment of women and there has been no step which is exclusively for women's welfare.
She however prefers to spell out her other agendas later during her election campaign.
She said that she had been beaten twice in the Municipal Councilor elections before.
L Khetrani is a Master's degree holder in Mathematics.