Manipur Congress eyeing record majority in 2022 elections

Imphal: The Manipur Congress is leaving no stone unturned to ensure a record majority in the Legislative Assembly elections to be held in 2022 and form its own government in the state.

Addressing a one-day state-level youth interaction and social media training workshop on Sunday, former deputy chief minister and Congress Working Committee (CWC) member Gaikhangam Gangmei said that Mission 2022 of the Congress party is to bag not less than 45 of the 60 seats in the ensuing Manipur Legislative Assembly elections.

The workshop was organised by Manipur Pradesh Youth Congress Committee (MPYCC) at Congress Bhavan in Imphal.

Taking a dig at Congress MLAs who defected from the party, Gaikhangam pointed out their ‘lack of political principles’ and further maintained that their defection cannot undermine the party in any manner.

The Congress leader also claimed that the party has still an effective strength of 17 MLAs who are committed to the party’s ideology and principles.

Elaborating on how the party would be strengthened further, Gaikhangam said that the party should be bolstered from the grassroots level to the top and this will happen soon.

The Congress also accused the present BJP-led coalition government of deliberately delaying the elections of the Autonomous District Councils (ADCs) in the hill districts and urban local bodies (ULBs) despite strong pressure from the public, as the government fears losing the elections, he said.

Also read: Manipur: ADC election notification to be announced by May 5

Reiterating the importance of conducting fair and just elections in time, the CWC member further stated that elections are not something which can be overlooked and they have to be held mandatorily, as laid down in the Constitution of India.

The government’s unwillingness to conduct the impending ADC elections at the moment despite strong pressure from student bodies and civil societies only exposes that the ruling BJP party is not in a very comfortable position, said the Congress leader.

Perhaps, the government is thinking about aborting the ADC elections altogether, he asserted.

Manipur government recently decided that it will take full responsibility for the completion of the elections to the six ADCs by June 25, 2021. This development came following a meeting between the All Tribal Students’ Union Manipur (ATSUM) and representatives of the state government after the students’ body staged agitations across the hill districts.

ATSUM, an apex tribal students’ body of Manipur, has been spearheading and protesting the state government against the delay in conducting elections to the ADCs of the state.

Also read: Manipur: We won’t accept any activity to legalise new districts, says UNC