Newmai News Network
IMPHAL, January 27
[dropcap]M[/dropcap]anipur is going to have its first ever Muslim MP in the Upper House of Parliament. In view of the Rajya Sabha election scheduled for February 7, the All India Congress Committee (AICC) has approved Haji Abdul Salam for the lone seat of Manipur. He filed his nomination to the Returning Officer of the state Assembly Y. Indira around 2:50 pm today.
In the 60-member Manipur legislative assembly, the Congress has 42 MLAs, and given this picture the result for the Rajya Sabha poll in Manipur is obvious.On Monday, Chief Minister O. Ibobi Singh and Deputy Chief Minister Gaikhangam participated in filing of the nomination paper of Abdul Salam along with a total of 12 Congress MLAs who stood as proposers for the candidate.
The Chief Minister speaking on the occasion said that, for the single Rajya Sabha seat of the state, a total of 21 forms were taken by members of the Manipur Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC). But only 20 forms were received from the candidates by the office which were eventually submitted to the AICC. MPCC had earlier resolved to nominate a candidate from among the minority community so that they can be uplifted in the society.
Haji Abdul Salam hails from Heibong Makhong Village, Wabagai Assembly Constituency, Thoubal district of Manipur, and is presently staying at Minuthong Golapati, Imphal. He is a post graduate in political science and also did his LLB from Gauhati University. He had earlier applied for INC ticket for Rajya Sabha in March 2008 and for the Lok Sabha elections in the year 2009.
After being elected from the Wabagai Assembly constituency, he held the portfolio of Minister of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj (RD & PR) from 1997 to 1999. He was also minister for co-operation, minorities and other backward classes (MOBC) from 2002 to 2004.
Meanwhile, the last date of filing nominations for the Rajya Sabha election has been fixed on January 28 and the scrutiny will be done on January 29.
