Imphal: In perhaps the only solace to the Congress government in the state Assembly elections 2012, the Manipur electorate gave a thumping majority to the party, helping it win 42 seats out of 60. The party scored a hat-trick and returned to power in the northeastern state, helped by a fragmented opposition.
The Trinamool Congress, part of an 11-party Peoples Democratic Alliance, made an impressive debut winning seven seats, followed by the Naga Peoples' Font (NPF) that bagged four seats. The TMC had a sole member in the outgoing House. Other partners of the alliance together with the Trinamool Congress were able to secure only 16 seats.
The People's Democratic Party (PDF), meanwhile, secured one seat, while others notched six seats.
There was jubilation in Congress camps across the state after Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh retained his Thoubal seat, defeating his rival from the BJP Indira Oinam by a huge margin of over 15,000 votes....
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06:58 PM, Mar 06, 2012
New Delhi: Manipur will hold its second re-poll on Sunday after the Election Commission ordered repolling in 67 stations of its nine Assembly constituencies amid reports of irregularities in the January 28 polls in the state. Several non-Congress parties had alleged malpractices in the January 28 election and the first re-poll on February 4. Parties, including the BJP, NCP, CPI, CPM, JD-U, MSCP, Manipur Peoples Party, National Peoples Party and...
08:17 AM, Mar 04, 2012
In a 2009 interview, historian Lokendra Arambam, former President of the Apunba Lup (a conglomerate of 32 civil society organisations in the state of Manipur) told me that when it comes to Manipur, "the government of India is interested in the land and not in the people." In 2006, just three years before Arambam's remark, Henry V Jardine, US Consulate General, Calcutta, returned from Manipur, which borders Myanmar, and sent...
12:26 PM, Jan 09, 2012
Imphal: Seven major insurgent outfits of Manipur on Thursday threatened action again anyone taking part in the election campaign of the ruling Congress in the state. In a joint statement, the insurgent bodies, who have a common goal of making Manipur an independent country, said elections were not meant to bring welfare for the people. Reacting to it, Manipur Assembly Speaker and senior Congress leader I. Hemochandra Singh said India...
04:44 PM, Jan 05, 2012
Imphal: After Mizoram, Manipur is the second Indian state where women voters outnumber men. However, the number of female legislators in the state assembly is minimal. The outgoing ninth assembly has only one woman member in the 60-member house - O Landhoni Devi, wife of Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh. According to an election department official, all the six women, except Landhoni Devi, who stood for election in 2007 lost...
05:42 PM, Jan 04, 2012
Imphal: The Manipur People's Party, which had on Sunday said it would ally with the BJP to fight the January 28 Assembly election, indicated on Monday it would put up at least 15 candidates in the 60-member House. Sources in the MPP said the party had also signed agreements with the CPI, JD (U) and NCP for a pre-poll alliance in a bid to oust the 'corrupt' Congress-led Secular Progressive...
06:24 PM, Jan 02, 2012
