Witoubou Newmai
The Naga People’s Front (NPF) has announced that it will contest in 15 assembly constituencies in the forthcoming Manipur assembly election due in a couple of months’ time. On Tuesday, December 6, all 37 candidates seeking the NPF ticket were summoned to Kohima and had a ‘consultative meeting’ chaired by the Party President Dr Shurhozelie Liezietzsu. Nagaland Chief Minister TR Zeliang and Minister for Education Yitachu, the In-charge of the NPF Manipur State Unit, were also in attendance.
Out of the 60 assembly constituencies, 11 of them—Phungyar, Ukhrul, Chingai (in Ukhrul district), Mao, Tadubi, Karong (in Senapati district), Tamei, Tamenglong, Nungba (in Tamenglong district), Chandel and Tengnoupal (in Chandel district) — are considered as ‘Naga dominated’ assembly constituencies.
Sources from the NPF said that the Party is also fielding candidates in Hengleng (Churachandpur district), Jiribam (Imphal East district), Saikul (Sadar Hills) and Saitu (Sadar Hills) assembly constituencies. For a long time, Jiribam has been represented by a Meitei while the other three are ‘Kuki dominated’ assembly constituencies. With the high-velocity campaigns and tensions in Manipur due to creation of Sadar Hills and Jiribam district, the decision of the NPF to contest in the ‘non Naga bastions’ may sound absurd to many. However, NPF is betting on the solidarity of the Naga, non Kuki and non-Meitei voters. There are sizeable numbers of Nagas in the assembly constituencies of Saitu, Jiribam and Saikul.
In Jiribam, the NPF must woo the Muslims and other non-Meitei communities including the Hmars while in the Thadou (Kuki) dominated Henglep assembly constituency, it has to woo the non-Kuki electorate. But the winning chance of the cock party in this constituency is slim. In Saitu and Saikul assembly constituencies, the Naga and Nepali voters are considered ‘deciding factors’ by candidates.
With Sadar Hills issue at the center of the Manipur volatile situation today and the NPF vehemently opposing its upgradation to a district status, the electorate against Sadar Hills district creation will rally behind the cock party. But again, the fate of the NPF in these two ‘Kuki dominated’ constituencies will depend on the number of candidates who are supporting the Sadar Hills district creation.
When it comes to the four ‘Naga dominated’ districts of Senapati, Ukhrul, Tamenglong and Chandel, it is no exaggeration to conclude that there is a marked surge in the popularity of the BJP — over 50 candidates seeking the BJP's ticket from 11 ‘Naga stronghold’ assembly constituencies itself is self explanatory.
Observers feel that anti-incumbency factor, the passing of the three ‘anti tribal bills’ by the Manipur Legislative Assembly last year and the subsequent declaration of the Joint Action Committee Against Anti Tribal Bills (JAC-AATB) to boycott the Congress party and the sitting tribal legislators could have been the reason why voters are flocking either to the NPF or the BJP in the ‘Naga bastions.’ This does not mean to suggest that the Congress party has been written off completely in the four Naga dominated districts in Manipur.
Congress party stalwarts including Deputy Chief Minister Gaikhangam are still big factors in Manipur politics. Thus, it cannot be concluded that the course of the ongoing electioneering cannot be affected by these considerations. If the prevailing situation triggered by the Sadar Hills and Jiribam issues can alter the outcome of electoral landscape in Manipur to a great extent, then, much more would also depend on how the Congress party veterans continue to play their cards.
