The time for coalitions

Published : Mar 16, 2002 00:00 IST

In a post-poll development marked by the absence of horse-trading, a coalition government headed by Okram Ibobi Singh of the Congress(I) takes charge in Manipur.

A FOUR-MEMBER Secular Progre-ssive Front (SPF) government headed by Congress(I) Legislature Party leader Okram Ibobi Singh was sworn in on March 7 in Manipur, ending the nine-month-long spell of President's Rule in the northeastern hill State. Three senior leaders of SPF constituents - K.Govindas of the Manipur State Congress Party (MSCP), P. Parijat of the Communist Party of India (CPI), and C. Doungel of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) - were sworn in along with Okram Ibobi by Governor Ved Prakash Marwah. Soon after the oath-taking ceremony in Imphal, Ibobi left for Delhi to call on Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee as well as central leaders of his party. He said he would expand his Ministry after his return from Delhi and seek a vote of confidence within a week of taking office.

The SPF was floated immediately after the announcement of the results of the February Assembly elections. As none of the 16 political parties in the State won an absolute majority, an alliance became inevitable. The Congress(I), which emerged as the single largest party with 20 of the 60 Assembly seats, started negotiations with like-minded parties as soon as the results were declared. All India Congress Committee (AICC) observer Pranab Mukherjee, who was in Manipur throughout the poll process, was instrumental in forging an alliance and forming the SPF. The SPF comprises the Congress(I), the MSCP, the CPI and the NCP. The Manipur National Conference (MNC), which was floated on the eve of the elections by former Chief Minister W. Nipamacha Singh, supported the SPF. Nipamacha, who broke away from the Congress in 1997 and formed the MSCP from which he was subsequently expelled following infighting, lost the election but his party secured one seat.

In the Assembly, the SPF has a strength of 35 seats - the Congress(I) 20, the MSCP seven, the CPI five, and the NCP three. Of the remaining 25 seats, the Federal Party of Manipur (FPM) won 13, the BJP four, the Samata Party three, the Democratic Revolutionary People's Party (DRPP) two, the Manipur People's Party (MPP) two and the MNC one.

THE 54-year-old Okram Ibobi is the 25th Chief Minister of Manipur since it attained statehood in 1972. Born in the remote village of Athokpan in Thoubal district, he plunged into politics after graduation. He was first elected to the State Assembly in 1984 from Khangbok as an independent and became the Chairman of the State Khadi and Village Industries Board. He joined the Congress(I) in the late 1980s and was elected to the Assembly in 1990 on the Congress(I) ticket. He was made the Urban Development and Industries Minister. Defeated in the 1995 Assembly elections, Ibobi was appointed vice-president of the Manipur Pradesh Congress Committee in 1996. Even as senior leaders such as T. Debendra and Y. Erabot were sidelined by the party high command, Okram Ibobi with the support of senior State Congress leader and former Chief Minister Rishang Keishing, became MPCC president in 1999. He contested the Assembly elections and lost In 2000. Although Debendra, a former Works Minister, contested the post of the CLP leader this time, the support of senior leaders such as Keishing and that of tribal MLAs brought Okram Ibobi victory. Keishing lost the recent elections for the first time in 30 years but remains a key player in Manipur politics.

The delay in revoking President's Rule held up government formation for at least 10 days. However, the Congress' swift action of forming alliance, deprived the Opposition parties, particularly the FPM, of an opportunity to stake their claim to form the government. Having tasted people's ire last year, all parties were wary of horse-trading, for which Manipur is notorious. The alternative, therefore, was coalition politics.

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