Pradyut Bordoloi Rakibul Hussain

The All India Congress Committee (AICC) has appointed two senior Assam Congress leaders as observers for the upcoming Manipur Assembly elections scheduled to be held in 2022.

AICC has appointed Nagaon Lok Sabha MP and former minister Pradyut Bordoloi and Samaguri MLA & former minister Rakibul Hussain as party observers for the ensuing Manipur Assembly polls.

The news has been confirmed by a press statement issued by AICC general secretary KC Venugopal on Sunday.

“The AICC has appointed the following persons as observers to Manipur for the upcoming assembly elections in the state. with immediate effect – Pradyut Bordoloi, MP and Rakibul Hussain, MLA,” Venugopal said in the statement.

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Manipur is currently being ruled by the BJP government headed by chief minister N Biren Singh.

Trouble brewed for the BJP-led government after six MLAs withdrew their support while three BJP legislators quit the party and joined the Congress on June 17.

However, chief minister N Biren Singh won the trust vote by a comfortable margin of 28-16 on August 10 and the six Congress MLAs submitted their resignation from the Assembly soon after it.

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After media reports that Pradyut Bordoloi might join the BJP, the Congress high command has taken the matter seriously.

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In a bid to give importance to his leadership, the Congress has named Pradyut Bordoloi as a member in several party committees formed recently.

It seems the Congress, which has lost several party leaders including All India Mahila Congress president Sushmita Dev, is not in a mode to lose more senior party leaders like Bordoloi.