He is the face of the BJP in Manipur. Before that, Nongthombam Biren, 56, has had several identities — national footballer, founder editor of a vernacular daily, Congress minister. On the wall of his office, a large photograph shows a number of Manipuri politicians, including Biren, with Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. In his sitting room hangs a newly framed, smaller portrait of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Last year, Biren left the Congress, his party since 2007, to join the BJP. Months before that, he had threatened to join the BJP along with 20 other Congress MLAs unless Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh reshuffled the cabinet. Under pressure, Ibobi relented. Biren was also made vice president of the state Congress, but switched parties all the same, because of continuing “misgovernance’’.
At the entrance of his home is a photograph that dwarfs those of the Congress leaders and the prime minister. It shows Biren standing among a row of footballers. “That was the Durand Cup of 1991; I played in the final,” says Biren. He played for BSF Jalandhar, having caught the coach’s eye in an exhibition match against the team at home.
He has named the youngest of his three children Zico, after the Brazilian footballer, and calls him Pele at home. “When he was born, I was at the peak of my career and a little obsessed with football,” Biren says.
He says he played for five years in Jalandhar and Delhi. “When I returned to Manipur, I wanted to write about everything I had seen, make Manipur aware. My father had two acres of land; I sold it and started a newspaper, Thoudan. I wrote mostly the editorial.” Biren, who hired a team of reporters, says the newspaper became very popular.
Then in the late 1990s, Manipur was gripped in insurgency — coupled with allegations of extra-judicial killings. Biren cites examples of what he saw. “I realised it was just not enough to write about these things… I had to be more active, more involved. So I decided to join politics.”
In 2001, he sold his newspaper for Rs 2 lakh. With those proceeds and donations from well-wishers, he fought his first election the next year as an independent. As an MLA, he lent support to the Congress government. In the 2007 elections, Biren won on a Congress ticket.
Now he is disillusioned with the Congress. “I had joined politics with the intent to see AFSPA [Armed Forces Special Powers Act] repealed. I raised this issue over and over again but it went unheard,” he says.
But then, even the BJP vision document does not promise repeal of AFSPA. Biren justifies that: “It is because the situation in Manipur is a bit sensitive… Insurgency needs to be controlled first, then repeal of AFSPA.”
Biren claims that he set some conditions before joining the BJP. “I told Ram Madhav that the budget of the state should be according to topographical need. So if the hill districts need more, they should receive more,” he says.
Biren has a number of complaints against the chief minister. “His politics has become that of the family. His wife, his son and he himself are standing in this year’s election,” Biren says.
“The chief minister has been the main force behind Manipur’s divisive politics and the extreme polarisation that is happening between the tribals and the Meiteis, especially between the Nagas and the Meiteis now. If we don’t remedy this immediately, we will lose our tribal brothers and sisters. The BJP in Manipur will be a unifying force for the people of Manipur.”
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