INC may field Alfred in Outer, four vie for Cong ticket in Inner

By Our Staff Reporter
IMPHAL, Mar 12: Indian National Congress (INC) may field ex-MLA Alfred Kangam Arthur in the Outer Manipur Parliamentary Constituency and either JNU Associate Professor Angomcha Bimol Akoijam or MPCC vice-president Hareshwar Goswami in the Inner Constituency.    
Although the MPCC has forwarded names of four aspiring candidates to fight the Lok Sabha election in Inner Manipur PC, sources said that Dr Bimol Akoijam and Hareshwar Goswami are the frontrunners for the party ticket.
Talking to this reporter at Congress Bhavan here this afternoon, MPCC president K Meghachandra said that four individuals applied for Congress ticket to contest the forthcoming Lok Sabha election in Inner Manipur PC.
MPCC vice president Hareshwar Goswami, JNU Associate Professor Dr Angomcha Bimol Akoijam, retired IAS officer Abujam Tombikanta and MPCC senior spokesman and AICC member Ningombam Bhupenda have applied for Congress ticket, Meghachandra said.
He said that the Manipur Pradesh Congress Election Committee has forwarded the names of all the four applicants to the AICC.
Who gets the Congress ticket in Inner Manipur PC would be known only after AICC brings out the list of candidates, Meghachandra said.
AICC is expected to name the Congress party’s candidate in Inner Manipur PC in the next couple of days. All the aspiring candidates are qualified, popular and well-known personalities. MPCC would welcome when AICC allots a party ticket to any one of them, said the MPCC president.
MPCC has also reached a consensus to support the candidate selected by the AICC, he said.
With K Meghachandra in the chair, leaders of MPCC frontal organisations held a meeting on the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections at Congress Bhavan today.
In Outer Manipur PC, MPCC has forwarded the name of Alfred Kangam Arthur to the AICC.
Notably, Alfred Kangam Arthur was elected to the 11th Manipur Legislative Assembly from Ukhrul AC.
As no other individual is seeking Congress ticket in Outer Manipur PC, Alfred Kangam Arthur would certainly get the Congress ticket, Meghachandra said.
However, another source informed that apart from Alfred Kangam Arthur, ex-MLA (Phungyar AC) Victor Keishing too applied for Congress ticket.
The name of Alfred Kangam Arthur was forwarded to the AICC after a consensus was reached within MPCC, said the source.
On the other hand, AICC General Secretary KC Venu-gopal announced names of 43 individuals who would contest the Lok Sabha elections on Congress tickets.
The candidates announced
today included 12 for Assam.
Former Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi’s son Gaurav Gogoi is also in the list of candidates.  
Taking serious note of the fact that the violent crisis which erupted on May 3 last year has not been resolved yet, the Congress party has not yet started any preparation for the Lok Sabha elections, he said.
To the Congress party, the protracted crisis is a far more serious matter than the Lok Sabha election. Because of the crisis, people of the State have been suffering extreme misery, he said.
In view of the abject failure of the BJP Governments of the State and the Centre, a large section of people have expressed their intention to boycott the Lok Sabha elections. The Congress party has also taken serious note of this aggrieved voice, Megha- chandra said.