All is not well with the kind of election propaganda being spread by various political parties in the state. Territorial integrity issue is a very sentimental issue for the people of the state. People in the state dare every challenge which tried to distort the integrity of the state. The issue is far beyond electoral politics as we had witnessed in June, 2001. However, using it as a tool by political parties during election time will bring no good other than giving opportunities to those who have been working all their life for distorting the integrity of the state. People of the state had fought, sacrificed and revolted many a time when any threat to the integrity of the erstwhile kingdom came and there is no doubt that the children of the future Manipur will have no fear to follow the path of their ancestors. This election, almost all political parties seemed to be playing their electoral game using the integrity issue. Ruling congress is trying to garner more support of the people using the mantra of territorial integrity issue by hitting hard to UNC which has been imposing economic blockade for over 100 days. No doubt UNC is considered as frontal body of NSCN-IM which has been demanding segregation of not only Manipur but some states of Manipur to create a new state for them. A direct challenger of the ruling congress will be definitely the NPF, which has been advocating the cause of the NSCN-IM. There is no doubt that all political party will not spare any chances to get support of the voters. And like the congress party using the matra on this issue at valley area, the NPF will tried the similar way to win the election at some hill districts by standing strong opposition to the Congress party. This means the dream of the NSCN-IM for segregating the state to form a new state will become clearer. Congress of course is facing tough time in this election due to its anti-incumbency factor as it has been in power for 15 years plus the spread BJP wave after Prime Minister Narendra Modi become popular day after another after assuming the PMO around 2 and half years back. The way the Congress leaders here in valley region played the UNC issue to garner voters will definitely left its candidates in some Hill district constituencies as a complete helpless. This means that the using the UNC issue as a tool for electoral politics will definitely empower those trying to divide the state.
