New in the Northeast | Who will be the next CM of Manipur?

Questions on alliances and the top post remain, with three main contenders awaiting their fate. This along with a disturbing approach to women's health in the Arunachal Pradesh assembly

Questions on allies and the CM’s post

Manipur chief minister N Biren Singh secured an easy win from his home seat of Heingang by defeating the Congress candidate by a margin of 18,271 votes.  (PTI)

Bucking predictions of poll pundits and anti-incumbency, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) managed to retain power in Manipur for a second consecutive term last week. While BJP leaders including chief minister (CM) N Biren Singh said they would get 40 of the 60 assembly seats, it was expected that voters in the Northeastern state would give a fractured verdict with no party getting the required 31 seats needed to form the government on its own.

By Thursday evening, when the votes in the final EVMs were tabulated, the BJP ended up with 32 seats. The Opposition Congress’s hopes of a return to power were dashed and only five of the party’s candidates managed to secure wins. The party managed to get fewer seats than smaller players such as the National Peoples’ Party (NPP, 7) and Janata Dal (United), which bagged 6. The Congress’s tally was the same as Naga Peoples’ Front (NPF), a regional party influential in hilly areas of the state.

During its first stint in power in Manipur, the BJP was beset with problems. Various issues — from power-sharing with allies (NPP and the NPF), a focus on poaching Congress legislators, and threats from within the party to the CM’s chair — kept everyone busy. While the BJP will be relieved about not having to rely too much on allies in this term, there are still two issues that the party has to contend with, post the declaration of results.

The first would be to take a call on whom to ally with for the next five years. The party has indicated that its ties with the NPF will continue for this term as well. But there’s no clarity yet on its finer details. The BJP’s National Democratic Alliance (NDA) ally JD (U) has also made it clear that it will support the saffron party’s government and will even be part of it, if offered. But the BJP is yet to indicate if at all they want the Bihar-centric party’s offer.

There are even speculations that are focused on the future of BJP and NPP ties. Both parties were part of the earlier BJP-led coalition in Manipur and the saffron party is a minor partner in the NPP-led government in Meghalaya. However, in the Manipur polls, both the BJP and the NPP contested independently and ran a bitter campaign targeting each other.

While the BJP wanted to shed its dependence on smaller allies, for the NPP, it was a question of retaining its identity from threats posed by the much bigger partner. Post the announcement of results, the BJP has indicated that it will have no truck with the NPP in Manipur. But a final decision is awaited and the NPP is hoping the partnership will continue.

The other issue that the BJP faces is selecting its candidate for the CM’s post. The party fought the polls without naming its CM candidate. While Biren Singh has the advantage, there are others within the BJP who don’t want the former Congressman, who has been accused of being autocratic, to get another term.

Prominent among Biren’s alternatives is Th Biswajit Singh, a minister in the previous government and a popular leader among the masses. Biswajit’s long association with the BJP was expected to get him the top post in 2017, but his lack of experience in governance was stated as the reason for being dropped. This time, the party’s leadership could hand him the CM’s chair.

The other contender in the fray is Govindas Konthoujam, a former president of Congress’s Manipur unit who joined the BJP months before the polls and won the Bishnupur seat. In the event of the race for the top post between Biren and Biswajit getting messy, Govindas — who is stated to be close to the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) — could provide the alternative.

When menstruation a dirty word?

A day after results for Manipur assembly polls were declared, the Arunachal Pradesh assembly on Friday witnessed a debate on a topic that usually doesn’t find space in legislative proceedings. Opposition Congress Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) Ninong Ering moved a private member resolution seeking a day’s menstruation leave for working girls and women in the state —as allowed in Kerala and Bihar.

Responding to the resolution, Arunachal health minister Alo Libang informed the House that a decision on this request would be taken after consultations with stakeholders including the state’s women commission and women legislators. Following this, Ering withdrew his resolution at the minister’s request. But the words and language used by some MLAs while discussing the resolution left a bitter aftertaste that lingered on.

On Saturday, the Arunachal Pradesh Women Welfare Society (APWWS), one of the largest non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in the state working on women’s issues, issued a statement expressing displeasure on “lack of dignity” during the assembly discussion on the issue of menstruation leave.

During Friday’s discussion, BJP MLA, Lokam Tassar, said that the issue shouldn’t be discussed in the assembly as it was a “litra” (dirty) thing. Another BJP legislator, Jummum Ete Deori, expressed his displeasure that the topic was raised inside the assembly.

“The members of the August house, even if they had disagreed with the private member’s resolution on grant of leave to menstruating girls and women, should have approached the topic with dignity and understanding. Using unparliamentary words to describe a biological process shows ignorance and disrespect to girls and women. Menstruation is not a taboo,” the APWWS release said. It also urged the assembly speaker to expunge the word “litra” from the assembly’s proceedings.