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NPP alleged militants campaigning for BJP in Manipur. Here’s why it didn’t push issue with EC

NPP and BJP are partners in neighbouring Meghalaya, and the regional party is part of BJP-led alliance NEDA. They’re competing against each other in Manipur.

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New Delhi: Why did the National People’s Party not flag its allegations about militants campaigning for the BJP in Manipur, in a meeting with Chief Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra? This is because it has its eyes on post-poll scenarios and is reluctant to antagonise its ally-turned-opponent beyond a point, ThePrint has learnt.

CEC Chandra and his team visited poll-bound Manipur this week, but the NPP didn’t raise the issue, Election Commission officials in Chandra’s team told ThePrint.

The NPP is an ally of the BJP in Meghalaya and is one of the major regional parties in the BJP-led North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA). However, in Manipur, the parties are contesting these elections separately, and this has made it necessary for the NPP to be careful in its strategy of dealing with the BJP at this stage, said sources across parties as well as observers in Manipur.

While NPP leaders said they flagged the issue with the state’s chief election office earlier this week, they refrained from sharing details on why they chose not to flag the matter in the meeting with Chandra — an input that, according to Election Commission officials, could have led to an immediate inquiry.

Leaders and observers say this suggests the NPP is carefully drawing lines in its offensive strategy against the BJP in Manipur — a state that has had a complex social structure connecting militancy and politics for decades.

Senior NPP leader Yumnam Joykumar Singh, who is currently Manipur’s Deputy CM under BJP’s N. Biren Singh, told ThePrint that “we have flagged the matter with the state chief election office”, though he refused to share any details of the meeting.

ThePrint also reached NPP national president and Meghalaya CM Conrad Sangma for a comment through calls and text messages, but there was no response until the time of publishing this report.


Also read: NPF MLA sworn-in as cabinet minister in Nagaland’s opposition-less govt


The CEC visit

CEC Sushil Chandra and his team visited Manipur earlier this week, as part of the regular pre-election process of going to poll-bound states to review poll preparedness and security concerns. The team holds meetings with political parties, state election officials, security agency officers and government officials. Matters highlighted in such meetings often attract more immediate attention, said an EC official who didn’t wish to be named.

Based on inputs in a meeting Chandra chaired on 8 February, especially those concerning security issues and pleas from Christian groups regarding a change of date highlighted by political parties, the EC revised the date of first phase polls in the state from 27 February to 28 February, and the second phase from 3 March to 5 March.

On the same day, the NPP issued a statement alleging that several militant organisations are openly campaigning for ruling BJP in Manipur — naming a few such as the KNF-MC, KNF-Z, UKLF, KNA and the HPC(D) and listing a few incidents of its candidates being threatened by militants campaigning for the BJP in certain assembly segments. The party also demanded adequate security cover for its candidates.

“But this matter (militant groups campaigning for the BJP) was not discussed in that meeting (with Chandra, on 8 February),” said a second EC official who was part of Chandra’s team and participated in the meeting with Manipur political parties, including the NPP.

‘Statement more political’

For the upcoming polls, the NPP and BJP are contesting on their own, and have made claims about emerging as the single largest party and needing no ally respectively.

While the BJP has fielded candidates on all 60 seats for the upcoming elections, the NPP has fielded candidates in 43 segments. In the 2017 polls, the NPP contested nine seats in the state and won four.

“Militant organisations’ involvement in poll campaigns in Manipur is neither new nor a secret. But it cannot be attributed to any one party as such,” said Sunzu Bachapatimayum, an Imphal-based political observer.

“The NPP’s statement seems more political than anything else because militant groups are closely tied to ethnic communities, and association with one of them can upset the other, potentially denting the vote base of an opponent in certain pockets,” he said. 

“However, the NPP also cannot afford to antagonise the BJP beyond a point. The party remains its ally in Meghalaya, NPP is part of the NEDA, and it is also considering the post-poll scenario in Manipur, in which the possibility of an alliance cannot be ruled out,” he added.

(Edited by Amit Upadhyaya)


Also read: Election Commission has zero tolerance towards misuse of govt machinery, money power: CEC


 

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