Imphal: Manipur chief minister Nongthombam Biren Singh, who’s also the state’s first chief minister from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), is confident that his party would form governments in Tripura and Nagaland in the Assembly elections scheduled this February. About Meghalaya, though, he has his doubts and hopes to do a repeat of Manipur in that state.
In an exclusive interview to News18, Singh said, “We’ll surely be ahead of the Left Front in Tripura and will be forming the government with our alliance partner, the Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura (IPFT). People in Tripura want change, like they have seen in Assam and Manipur. Anti-incumbency will be one of the reasons for the Left’s defeat.”
The Manipur chief minister felt that the efforts put in by BJP General Secretary, Ram Madhav, and Northeast Democratic Alliance (NEDA) convenor, Himanta Biswa Sarma, would ensure the party’s victory in Tripura.
Biren also sounded confident that his party would form the government in Nagaland with support from the newly formed National Democratic People’s Party (NDPP), led by former CM and Lok Sabha MP Neiphiu Rio. BJP’s election in-charge for Nagaland and Union Minister of State for Home, Kiren Rijiju on Saturday, announced BJP’s alliance with NDPP on a 20-40 seat-sharing formula.
The chief minister was also hopeful of finding a peace formula to the ‘Solution before Election’ demand by all major Nagaland parties in the context of the long pending Naga political issue.
Meghalaya, though, remained a worrying spot ‘at the moment’ for the leader.
“For the BJP in Meghalaya, there’s a chance of post-poll alliance with the National People’s Party (NPP). We know what happened in last year’s Manipur assembly polls. There is very much a possibility of doing a Manipur in Meghalaya this time,” he said.
Over the past few years, NPP has emerged as a regional political force to reckon with in the Northeast. It is a part of the BJP-led coalition government in Manipur, and appears set to contest the upcoming state polls in Meghalaya as Congress’ primary opponent. Ahead of the polls, NPP chief Conrad K Sangma decided to go alone but political observers feel the possibility of a post-poll alliance with the BJP cannot be ruled out.
While Vikas (development) and Parivartan (change) remain the top issues for voters in all three poll-bound states, Biren says development has reached the region late and work has only just begun.
“Development is taking place, but we are yet to catch up with what we want. Geographic barriers in Manipur need to be knocked down for development to take place, and in this context, Assam is doing far better. Manipur’s socio-political environment is complex; we have to solve many issues while promoting development,” he said.
Tripura will go to the polls on February 18, followed by Nagaland and Meghalaya on February 27. Counting of votes in all three states will take place on March 3.
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