Congress appoints new Manipur unit chief

NEW DELHI/IMPHAL: Two weeks after N Loken Singh resigned as Manipur Congress president owning moral responsibility for the party's defeat in the recent Assembly polls, interim Congress chief Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday appointed new State president, four working presidents, a treasurer, five vice-presidents and a 14-member executive committee.

Congress general secretary KC Venugopal communicated the postings with former Minister and sitting MLA Keisham Meghachandra Singh as the new State unit chief.

Four working presidents were also appointed to strengthen the party organization in Manipur, which was governed by the Congress for 15 consecutive years from 2002-2017. They are T Manga Vaiphei, Mohammad Fajur Rahim, Victor Keishing and Kh Devabrata Singh.

While three of them are new faces, Devabrata Singh was the vice-president in the previous committee. Naga leader Victor Keishing is the son of former Chief Minister and veteran Naga leader Rishang Keishing.

In the 14-member executive committee, former Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh, former Deputy Chief Minister Gaikhangam, former Minister and ex-State president TN Haokip, veteran leader Moirangthem Okendro and former State Congress president N Loken Singh were accommodated.

After the party's debacle in the recently-held Assembly polls in five States, Manipur is the first State where the Congress unit has been reconstituted.

The Congress failed to win a reasonable number of seats in any of the States and in a humiliating defeat, lost Punjab to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

Immediately after the poll debacle, Sonia Gandhi had asked the State chiefs of the five States - Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa - to step down from their posts, and appointed observers to study the cause of the party's debacle in these States.

The Congress, which fielded 54 candidates in Manipur, won only five seats in the 60-member Assembly, with many of its sitting MLAs biting the dust.

However, three-time former Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh and his son Surjakumar Okram won from Thoubal and Khangabo constituencies, respectively. (IANS)

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