Sudden swept of the tide in the political theatre of Manipur now has left aside the bloody COVID-19 pandemic with almost all sections of people not to leave aside those currently engaging in the war against the unseen enemy having a keen watch to the new development. Whether the Chief Minister N. Biren Singh succeeded in completing his term as chief minister or the Congress topple his government is not what seems to be a concern for the majority of the civil society organizations of this state, but blessing seems to be on them as the sudden changes in the political spectrum in the state now give a clear indication that the titular king of Manipur Leishemba Sanajaoba is likely to defeat in the election for the lone Rajya Sabha seat, that is scheduled to hold tomorrow. It is now a political battle for Congress and the BJP, but as for Leishemba Sanajaoba, it is purely a matter of his existence as honoured head of the state.
Regarding either N. Biren Singh continues his government in the middle of the troubled water or the Congress clears its road to topple the government; it is a hard game in politics. Winning or losing is just a matter of how shrewdly the game is played by each of them. But for Leishemba Sanajaoba, who was picked as a pawn in the hard games of politics, it is difficult to make any comment on whether he will able to regain his position that people of the state had brought up with bloods of the people.
Considering the fact that there is still time for playing hard-games, that too when the center is having a strong BJP led government besides, a governor which is loyal to the party which is leading the government at the center and a BJP strong man as the speaker of the Manipur legislative assembly, having numbers even though speaks louder, one cannot rule out the interference from those in power.
In politics everything is possible, what is more, important to take note is that the span of the present government is just one and a half years from now.
Since the BJP led government came to power in Manipur there has never been the judicious use of power to uphold the constitutional values. And there is no guarantee that such will not continue to buy time as six or more month is enough to play the dirtiest of the dirty game of politics that the people of the state has been witnessing. Arguments or court interference may be late at that time as those in the upper hand (in power) may interpret the development as ‘constitutional crisis’ allowing the president to suspend the state assembly. This speculation is supported by the fact that the government’s span is just one and a half months left. Besides, the pending case for disqualification of the 7 defected congress MLAs and the rumours that have been going around of BJP leaders trying to get some MLAs from its rival camp, talks volumes about the uncertainty in the political theatre in Manipur.
In this hard game, between the BJP and the Congress party, it is Leishemba Sanajaoba that will bear the heat. Not only the people but also the political party that had nominated him as a candidate for the lone Lok Sabha seat knows that there is no time to make him elected. Now only time will tell on whether the people and the CSOs who have been criticizing his decision to contest the RS seat forgive him or not
