Professor Bimol Akoijam, who is the Congress candidate for the Inner Manipur Lok Sabha seat, said the upcoming parliamentary elections will hold a lot of significance for Manipur, which has been engulfed in sporadic ethnic violence since May last year.
Akoijam, a Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) professor, is likely to file his nomination paper on Monday and begin his election campaign.
He was nominated as the Congress candidate for Inner Manipur Lok Sabha constituency on Saturday. He was selected after 10 political parties that comprise the INDIA bloc in Manipur unanimously agreed to his candidature during a meeting.
Speaking to the media, Akoijam said, “This election is not just an election. It will be a turning point for Manipur. If the vote is given under the influence of money power, it will be very hard to achieve a peaceful Manipur.”
He accused the BJP government in Manipur of not taking any steps to quell the ethnic violence, which has claimed over 180 lives so far.
Akoijam said various suggestions for stopping the clashes were raised and asserted that the state government “did not take notice” of them.
“With the hope of bringing a new political culture to Manipur, I have decided to become a candidate in the election,” he said.
“After considering the ideology of the Congress, I have accepted to contest as a Congress candidate in the 18th Lok Sabha election from Inner Manipur Lok Sabha constituency,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Manipur Congress welcomed Akoijam and Alfred K Arthur, another Congress candidate who is contesting the Outer Manipur Lok Sabha seat, at Congress Bhawan in Imphal.
On the other hand, the BJP has announced its support for Naga People’s Front (NPF) candidate Kachui Timothy Zimik for the Outer Manipur Lok Sabha seat.
Meanwhile, Maheshwar Thounaojam has announced he will be contesting the Inner Manipur Lok Sabha seat on a Republican Party of India (Athwale) seat. The RPI (A) is an ally of the BJP-led NDA.
Source Agencies
