The wait for the list continues The six in the pack

In power at Delhi and Imphal and obviously the BJP is the party to beat. This should explain the pre-poll pact that has been arrived at among six political parties, the Congress, CPI, CPI (M), JD (S), Forward Bloc and RSP. Not the first time that the CPI and the Congress will be supping together and one is reminded of the Secular Progressive Front days when the two parties came together to form the Congress led Government in 2002. Since then the Cong-CPI pact has been kept alive and the latest move to rope in four other parties to a pre-poll deal to take take the fight to the BJP was topped off with a press conference to boot. How much will the coming together of the six political parties impact on the prospect of the BJP is not yet clear but the Congress has rung out the message that despite the large scale defection by some of its members in the last few years, it is not yet done. In other words, it is still alive and kicking and maybe ensure that the kick hurts where it lands ! On the other hand, the BJP has not made public any pre-poll pact with either of its two allies, but it has made it clear that its partnership with the NPF is still very much there while it has been engaged in some sort of a shadow boxing bout with the NPP. The pressure on the BJP to perform and outdo the Congress in all aspects can be understood and it is perhaps this expectation which it has brought upon itself that is delaying the formal announcement of its list of candidates. And being the party in power at Delhi and Imphal it has generated intense interest amongst the public and the delay in announcing the names of the candidates has only led to speculations and more speculations with ‘unofficial’ lists of the chosen candidates going viral on the social media. At least two such ‘unofficial’ lists have been doing the round, both underlining the immense interests that the ‘awaited’ BJP list has generated in amongst the public. The wait, the speculation and the ‘unofficial’ lists that have been doing the round on the social media will go together to script part of the story of the BJP ahead of the Assembly election. Add the coming together of six political parties to take on the BJP and the script seems ready for the coming Assembly election.
The BJP is the party to beat, and that is primarily the reason why the question, ‘How effective would the coming together of the six political parties be in taking the fight to the saffron party,’ gains credence. Apart from the CPI, which at one point of time made its presence felt in some Assembly Constituencies, it is not clear how much presence the other four parties have in Manipur. Either way, the coming together of six different political parties conveys the message that they are serious about stopping the BJP from making further inroads into Manipur. How strong a fight or how effective the six partners would be in checking the saffron party will be known only when the votes are counted, but it is a good sign for democracy that there are opposition to the ruling party. This is what should be noted. So even as six different political parties have come together to forge a united stand against the BJP, it is significant to note that the party is yet to come out with its list of candidates. Apart from the question of too many intending candidates, are there still points where a common meeting ground has not been found ? Is it a question of intense lobbying and internal politics that is delaying the announcement of the list ? Either way, the delay has only led to more and more question and whether this will bode well for the party in the long run or not is a question which only the leadership can answer. The delay in announcing the list has only added more masala to the run up to the Assembly election and surely this must have piqued the interests of the people more.