Is Govindas Konthoujam a threat to Chief Minister N. Biren Singh?

In politics everything is possible. Particularly in the state of Manipur unexpected development always comes up in the political theatre. An elected representative of a particular political party joining another before taking oath as the member of the legislative assembly, the resignation of MLAs of the opposition party to get seat or blessing from the ruling party, and the resignation of ruling MLAs with the expectation to get more power- these are all common phenomenon in Manipur’s politics. Adversaries among the ruling party, dissident MLAs camping for replacement of the Chief Minister – this are all seen in Manipur’s politics.
With the Manipur State Legislative Assembly election just 7 months to go, the state BJP is working hard to regain its power by winning more seats. The present President of the BJP Manipur Pradesh had already reiterated a promise by the president late Prof. Tikendra to win at least 40 seats. With the BJP still ruling at the center the political party has a strong belief that BJP will win more seats in the assembly election to form the next government. And if one studies the nature of politics in the state, people also have faith that BJP will regain power after winning more seats. Even those who had difference of ideologies have also started believing the BJP coming back to power. That is perhaps the reason for CSO leaders joining the party to contest in the upcoming election.
Political battlefield between the Congress and the BJP here in the state become tougher with the President of the Manipur Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) resigning from the political party and later joining the BJP in the presence of BJP national leaders at New Delhi on August 1. It is a fact that there is still an internal crisis in the BJP with some struggling hard to become Chief Minister. But the Chief Minister, however, with the blessing of Amit Shah and Narendra Modi managed to keep control of the dissident MLAs, and still the government is running and had completed 4 and half years.
Now, the entry of Govindas Konthoujam, a profile season politician, who actually has RSS background is likely to create a shifting tide to the BJP organizational structure. It seems like that the Chief Minister of Manipur N. Biren Singh do have a sense of apprehension about his position as Chief Minister.
The day when Govindas was accorded a warm reception by the NE in Charge Sambit Pattra (Organisation Secy BJP) in the presence of the Chief Minister of Manipur N. Biren Singh, BJP Manipur Pradesh President A Sarda Devi, Union Minister Dr. RK Ranjan, BJP top functionary BL Santosh, RS MP Leishemba Sanajaoba, a news report was circulated at a national TV Chanel ‘News Nation’ which stated that the central BJP leadership had announced N. Biren Singh as the Chief Ministerial Candidate. The news report was also reproduced at some of the local vernaculars. But later, in the evening the news reports about the announcement of N. Biren Singh as the Chief Ministerial candidate for the upcoming state assembly election turn out to be speculation. State President of the BJP, A. Sarda Devi had flatly denied announcing any Chief Ministerial Candidate for the BJP for the state of Manipur. The clarification from the state president is indeed a blow to N. Biren Singh who still hopes to retain his possible after the next election.
Now, Govindas Konthoujam, a seasoned politician may not have spell out anything that is in his mind. It will be hard to study his mind on the reason for joining the political party by leaving the topmost post of the largest opposition party. For sure there is going to be a major game in the BJP party itself with two others likely to campaign for the post of the Chief Minister. Meanwhile, if one study the nature of the Nation BJP party under the leadership of the Modi-Shah combo it is also likely that they might turn down any campaign for the post of Chief Minister and they will find no problem in replacement of the Chief Minister who was never expected and had never come up in the public domain. Yes, it had happened in Assam, and recently it had happened in Karnataka. When one digests the political culture of the Modi-shah Combo, it is them who decide on who will be the Chief Minister of any state where their party had the capacity to form a government using any means.
As per various political analysts, at least three BJP MLAs are likely to compete for the post of Chief Minister.
Govindas and N. Biren Singh were friends and had worked closely when both were in Congress. But now in BJP whether they will be a bitter enemy or not will be a matter that each and every one of us has to wait and see.