In Manipur, Left will stay with Cong

The Congress-left honeymoon might be over in New Delhi, but that won’t affect their relationship in Manipur, reports Rahul Karmakar.

The Congress-left honeymoon might be over in New Delhi, but that won’t affect their relationship in Manipur.

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Manipur is the only state where the Left is an ally of the Congress-led coalition government, though the latter has the requisite number -- 31 in the House of 60 -- to form a government on its own. The CPI was the Congress’s ally in the previous government too.

“We have no intention of withdrawing from the Congress-led coalition government,” said senior CPI leader Moirangthem Nara Singh from Imphal. “This is because our alliance is older than that at the Centre, and we have no local reasons to part ways.” The CPI has four MLAs in the coalition, while two from RJD provide outside support.

In Tripura, the Congress and Left have been traditional enemies. And the overwhelming victory of the Left Front in the assembly election earlier this year only widened that gap. The rift at the Centre would thus make no difference in the state.

Like in Tripura, CPI and CPM had never been friendly with the Congress in Assam. The two parties have formed a coalition government with the regional Asom Gana Parishad --despite the strong possibility of it jumping into the NDA bandwagon.