IMPHAL, March 27 - The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)�s Manipur unit is taking up all-out efforts to help the party in the Assembly elections in neighbouring Assam by launching election campaign particularly in the Minority settling areas.
President of BJP Manipur unit Thounaojam Chaoba Singh-led party leaders have been campaigning in Manipuri-inhabited areas of Assam for the last 5 days, to help their party wrest power from the Congress in the upcoming polls.
Manipuri living in Assam�s Barak Valley welcomed the BJP team saying that they want a change this time, sources said. A sizeable Manipuri population lives in Assam since centuries. There was a historical connection between Manipuri and Assamese after a Manipuri princess marries to a Price in Assam.
�We are confident that our party will get a minimum of eight seats from the Barak valley area in the elections this time,� said BJP leader Th Chaoba after attending Prime Minister Narendra Modi�s first election rally in Karimganj (after becoming Prime Minister) when contacted on phone. �Manipuri candidate L Thoiba is also contesting from Lakhipur constituency.�
The Barak Valley region comprising of three districts � Cachar, Karimganj and Hailakandi � and it has a total of 15 seats in the 126-member 14th Assam Assembly, is expected to have a triangular fight between the Left parties, the Congress and the BJP in the first phase of Assembly polls on April 4.
Manipur president Chaoba is accompanied by a former CPI leader and former minister N Mangi who recently joined the party, Dr RK Ranjan who contested in the last Lok Sabha polls in Manipur and others.
Besides Manipuris, the Muslim voters in the Barak Valley also welcomed the Manipur BJP team which includes AR Khan, a retired bureaucrat who became a member of the party and assured them of cooperation.
