Kolkata: The countdown has begun.
The much-awaited Manipur trip is set to finally see the light of the day today in some time.
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi inundated with acerbic salvos for ignoring the violence-hit state has a lot at stake vis-a-vis his sojourn.
Leave aside the social angle, politically the trip will sound the poll bugle in the state under the President’s rule.
Elections in Manipur may not happen in the near future despite repeated clarion calls.
The delicate Kuki-Meitei acrimony isn’t yet a thing of the past despite some signs of ‘ceasefire’ read by optimists.
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Yet efforts should be put in to prevent Manipur from becoming another Jammu & Kashmir.
If you have been following developments in the state, people are exasperated.
Looming tension exacerbated by a conspicuous obstinacy among the stakeholders not in a mood to budge, doesn’t behove a pleasant future.
Amid this, the astute political leader, PM Modi is, you would be a novice to decipher only the humanitarian angle out of his sudden decision to meet the sufferers in the state.
A defeaning silence for ages despite innocent souls becoming victims of sheer annihilation -Modi faced incendiary diatribes.
Yet he didn’t care and chose an appropriate time as per his reading to speak up.
But only a few words – curtains down.
Days down the line, the affable Prime Minister would be in Manipur.
Addressing both Kukis and Meiteis, unveiling projects running into crores and an attempt to heal the wounds of the internally-displaced lot – are part of his itinerary.
And in the midst of this, don’t overlook the electoral ambitions.
Elections in Bihar this year and several other states are foremost in his mind.
Staunch BJP bhakths might fulminate such a perspective – how does it impact voters’ minds in other states?
They may argue, but let’s not forget the strife in Manipur is a global phenomenon transcending borders.
With Modi’s penchant for banking on encashing national issues in state polls, the visit to Manipur will be a poll plank in Bihar, West Bengal, Kerala and especially Assam – the states due to hit the poll booth in the coming days or so.
The impact of Modi’s overtures to Manipur will be a strong ammunition for BJP in Assam – a dispensation riled by Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma’s overdrive on mass eviction – incurring the wrath of the Opposition.
So, let’s face reality.
There is a serious motive behind PM Modi’s move and predominantly it is political.
Vested electoral interests drive Modi’s actions and the moniker of Messiah of the needy may not count if judged in the right perspective.
But in the process, if the commoner benefits, what’s the harm?