With Manipur going to the poll later this week, all eyes are on Thoubal Assembly constituency where activist-turned-politician Irom Sharmila is contesting against three-time Chief Minister O Ibobi Singh. Election will be held in the constituency on March 8 in the second of the two-phase poll.

Thoubal constituency, one of the 10 constituencies in Thoubal district, having an electorate of 27,728, has been a Congress bastion and is the backyard of Ibobi Singh, a two-time MlA from the seat since 2007.

Besides being the district which houses the Assembly constituency of the Chief Minister, Thoubal has an unofficial tag of being a VIP district as well.

According to residents and Congress leaders of the State, every household in Thoubal constituency has got a job from the Ibobi Government, every household has all basic facilities like drinking water and power supply which even certain parts of Manipur do not have.

“During regular frisking at various checkpoints, the state police handles a person with care if he says he is from Thoubal. In Thoubal, the fight is not about whether Ibobi Singh wins or loses, the fight is to increase the 2012 margin,” a district Congress leader asserted.

Ibobi Singh had won the seat by a margin of more than 16,000 votes by defeating his nearest BJP rival in 2012.

Thoubal shares its border with as many as five other districts and the general sentiment in the air is that Ibobi Singh is not only invincible in Thoubal constituency but also in the rest of the nine seats in the district.

Apart from the candidates of TMC, BJP and an Independent, the constituency will also witness Irom Sharmila debuting in electoral politics as a candidate of her newly formed party Peoples’ Resurgence and Justice Alliance (PRJA).

On being asked to react on Irom Sharmila contesting from his seat, Ibobi Singh said,” Everyone has the right to contest. My best wishes are with her.”

At the flag-hoisting ceremonies of some of the

Congress candidates of his district, the turnout was huge and all the Congress rallies were jam-packed. Irom Sharmila is facing a severe cash crunch, so much so she has to do her campaigning on a cycle.

“I campaign on my cycle. I don’t believe in publishing posters and hand bills. Your work, your movement for the people will speak for you. I think less than Rs 1,00,000 is enough for a candidate to fight elections, given they follow my style of campaign,” she said.

Soon after ending her 16-year fast on August 9 last year, Sharmila had announced that she would take the electoral plunge for “attaining power needed to scrap AFSPA”.

Although people are sympathetic towards her 16-year-long crusade against AFSPA, they are sceptical about her political acumen and feels she still has a long way to go to make her mark in politics. The irony is that neither the Congress nor the BJP is taking Irom and her party “seriously” in the polls.

“She may have fought against AFSPA, but politics is a different ball game alltogether and she still has a lot to learn about it,” State BJP president K Bhabananda Singh told PTI.

BJP’s views find an echo in what the Congress leadership says: “She still has a lot to learn. There is a hell and heaven difference between contesting an election and winning an election.”

BJP’s candidate l Basnata Singh is confident of winning the seat by defeating Ibobi Singh with a huge margin.

The results of the Assembly elections will be announced on March 11. PTI