Year 2012 Yet To Come For Election To 10th Assembly, But....
CLP members start testing pre-poll pact on the sly
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, November 25 2010: With the 10th General Election to the Manipur Legislative Assembly set for 2112, cracks have started appearing in the ruling Congress Legislature Party (CLP) with a group of the Congress MLAs charting out political strategies to join the BJP and contest the election.

It is speculated that the 10th General Election to the Manipur Legislative Assembly may be preponed to November next year.

According to sources, after a leader of the dissident CLP group sent feelers to the BJP State Unit, a joint meeting was held with the leaders of the BJP State unit at an undisclosed place of Imphal on November 23 to discuss the merger.

There are not less than 10 of them in this group and many of them are bankable candidates, sources claimed.

Congress Bhawan where kings are made and unmade

Sources, however, declined to disclose the identity of the leader of the dissident CLP group.

The group has started discussion with the BJP unit under two conditions.

The first condition is that a member from the group should be made the Chief Minister if the BJP gets majority in the election and forms the next Government.

The second condition is that BJP State Unit should help in convincing the Central BJP leaders to allow the members of the group to take major responsibility in the election.

The first round of meeting between the dissident CLP group and the BJP State unit leaders was held keeping in mind these two conditions, sources said, adding that there is high expectation that the talks would be successful.

Further talks are expected in the days to come, sources said.

Members of the dissident CLP group have taken up their stand keeping in mind the prospects of BJP, which has done better than Congress party in the just concluded Bihar Assembly elections.

The dissident CLP members sense that BJP would do well in the upcoming Assembly elections to other States as well, sources said, adding that discontentment within the State Congress party has always been there but the crack may only become more prominent this time.

Local bodies election : In connection with election to the Municipal Councils (with exception to Imphal) and Nagar Panchayats, the ruling Congress as well as the BJP have started holding discussions.

The two political parties today convened separate meetings and discussed issues related to the election of the local bodies.

Sources in Congress party said that the meeting of the party presided over by its president Gaikhangam was attended by other office bearers.

Among other issues, the meeting discussed formation of various committees so that electioneering can be started as soon as the Election Commission issues the election notification.

On the other hand, a meeting of the BJP State unit was also held at its office with party president Sh Shantikumar in the chair.

After a thorough discussion on the impending election, the meeting resolved that all the tending party candidates should submit their names through the respective in-charge of the party at every Assembly Constituencies and the proposed party candidates for the upcoming General Assembly elections by December 5 .