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This story is from November 12, 2021

JD(U) girds up its loins to contest 20 assembly seats in BJP-ruled Manipur

JD(U) girds up its loins to contest 20 assembly seats in BJP-ruled Manipur
JD(U)'s Manipur state president and former minister Hangkhanpao Taithul
PATNA: Bihar's ruling JD(U) is girding up its loins to contest around 20, out of total 60 seats, in the forthcoming assembly polls in Manipur, which are scheduled to be held in March next year.
Party’s national secretary and Manipur in-charge Ramprit Mandal will be visiting the northeast state on November 13 on a four-day tour to review present political scenario and the party’s preparations for the forthcoming assembly polls.
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“Mandal, Lok Sabha member from Bihar’s Jhanjharpur, during his four-day stay in the northeast state, would also review the ongoing preparations for the party’s proposed mega rally in Imphal, the capital of Manipur, on December 11,” JD(U) Manipur state president and former minister Hangkhanpao Taithul told TOI over phone on Friday. The mega rally would be led by the JD(U) national president Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh.
The JD(U) wants to show its strength in the BJP-ruled Manipur through its proposed mega rally which would be addressed by several top JD(U) leaders, a political analyst said.
“We have already got formidable candidates for at least 15 seats. More formidable candidates including some sitting MLAs, former MLAs are in the process of joining the party. Some of them may join the JD(U) during its mega rally. …. We are girding up loins to contest around 20 seats, one-third of total seats,” Taithul said in a response to a query from TOI. He, however, added that the final decision regarding the number of seats would be taken by the JD(U)’s national leadership.

The importance of Manipur polls for the JD(U) can be gauged from the fact that Lalan Singh himself led a four-member team of senior party leaders to Imphal on October 8. The visiting team, comprising senior leaders like K C Tyagi, Afaque Ahmad Khan and R P Mandal, stayed in Manipur for four days to assess the party’s strength to win the assembly polls from different constituencies.
Taithul said, some sitting MLAs and former MLAs of other parties, who in touch with the JD(U) leaders, have expressed their desire to join the Bihar’s ruling party ahead of the assembly polls in Manipur.
In the last assembly polls held in 2017, the Congress, which had won 28 seats to emerge as the single largest party in the 60-member Manipur Assembly, saw members deserting the grand old party from time to time. Later, in a dramatic turn of events, the BJP, which bagged only 21 seats, formed the government with the support of three regional parties — the Naga People’s Front (NPF), National People’s Party (NPP) and the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP).
The lone LJP MLA Karam Shyam joined the ruling BJP on Thursday.
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