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Imphal, Sept. 4: The Manipur unit of the BJP has launched a signature campaign to seek support for the party’s demand for resignation of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in the coal block allocation scam.
State BJP president Shanti Kumar Sharma launched the campaign here yesterday.
Members of the BJP Yuva Morcha and Mahila Morcha distributed leaflets in the city, listing the scams that have surfaced during the UPA government’s tenure as well as its failures.
“The UPA government had announced that it would control prices of commodities during 100 days of its rule. It not only failed to control prices, but was also unable to stop the sky-rocketing prices of essential commodities,” the BJP leaflet said.
The party also slammed the UPA government for failing to pass the Women’s Reservation Bill, which is pending in Parliament.
The scandals listed on the leaflet include the 2G spectrum and coal block allocation scams. The BJP workers explained the charges mentioned in the leaflet to shopkeepers and shoppers and sought their signatures on it. The party yesterday collected more than 1,000 signatures in the city. Today, it covered the Greater Imphal area with a target of collecting another 1,000 signatures.
“We launched the signature campaign in support of the BJP’s demand in Parliament that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh should step down, as the CAG report has directly charged him for the coal allocation scam,” L. Basanta Sharma, the media in-charge of the party, said. He said Singh should step down gracefully and the BJP would not rest till that happened.
Sharma said the campaign would continue till Friday as part of the party’s nationwide “oust Manmohan campaign” to expose the misdeeds of the UPA government.
From tomorrow, the party workers will visit the homes of the candidates of zilla parishad election, slated for September 13, in the four valley districts of Imphal East, Imphal West, Bishnupur and Thoubal.
“We will try to collect the signatures of the people who gather in large numbers at the houses of zilla parishad and gram panchayat candidates,” the party president said.
Mahila Morcha president K. Mema said the party would try to cover all the nine districts of the state.
The campaign could not have come at a better time, as the BJP’s Manipur unit is trying to present itself as an alternative to the Congress, which is ruling the state for the third consecutive term.
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