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Despite the threat of violence and the apathy of voters, various parties and their candidates are campaigning in full earnest for the coming assembly elections in Manipur.
Charges and counter-charges are the order of the day as the politicians try to make a favourable impression on an uninterested electorate.
President of the Manipur People's Party O Joy Singh declared that his party would be specially targeting the Congress for its 'long-term role' in provoking ethnic tensions in the state.
He accused the Congress of sowing the seeds for the recent turbulence, which has threatened the state's territorial integrity.
Singh did not spare the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance either criticising it for taking a 'wrong decision' on extending the Centre's ceasefire with the separatist National Socialist Council of Nagalim (Isak-Muivah) without considering the ground realities.
Meanwhile, the Janata Dal (United) is championing the cause of 'people power' as opposed to 'money power', promising a corruption-free government.
The BJP's state unit too is campaigning along similar lines. In fact, it is promising to hand over all corruption cases in the state to the Central Bureau of Investigation.
The Nationalist Congress Party seems to be awaiting the arrival of its general secretary P A Sangma to kick-start its campaign. The NCP's manifesto favours economic development and large-scale investment in the state.
Even as the campaigning is gaining momentum, disillusionment with the political establishment remains widespread in Manipuri society.
Oinam Khongsaid, a medical practitioner from Imphal East, remarked, "Nobody believes these promises of a corruption-free government. The credibility of politicians remains the lowest."
A youth from Imphal pointed out that the majority of candidates in any given party had switched allegiance at least half-a-dozen times. "Nobody takes them seriously," he said. "We are least interested in these elections."
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