IMPHAL, January 18: Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh assured the newly elected councillors and ward members of his party that the State government will never deduct the funds meant for the local bodies sanctioned by the State Finance Commission.
The government will instead try to provide all possible helps, he said.
The Chief Minister was addressing a reception programme of the newly elected councillors and the ward members of the recently held 18th Municipal Councils and eight Nagar Panchayat elections held at the Congress Bhawan, BT Road today.
The ceremony was organised by the Manipur Pradesh Congress Committee.
The Chief Minister had started his speech by congratulating the party candidates and their efforts.
He also expressed happiness on behalf of the State government on the smooth conduct of the January 11 local body election.
He said we (Congress candidates) tend to forget that we have been elected by the peoples’ vote.
Citing his long political experience, he said he had also faced defeats in elections in the past as much as wins.
He said he had once won by only a few votes and another time by a huge margin.
But whenever, workers come rushing to inform the good news, he always had only one thing on his mind which is what he can do for the people.
At times defeat had been more relieving, he said and added, however, thinking of the workers who are even ready to die for him, defeat has always been heart breaking.
He consoled those who failed to win this time not be too upset stating win and loss are part of the democratic set up and that their time will also come.
As for the successful Congress candidates, he said not to allow their celebration be excessive as winning is just momentary and wouldn’t last forever.
The day after the win, the public will be very strict on the Congress candidates and will start questioning on what you have done for the people, he said.
From now on, the public will start monitoring you and we should not forget that, he advised his newly elected councillors and members.
Our elders have rightly said so that winning the trust of the public is winning the heart of God, he said.
Public monitoring us is like God keeping an eye on us and watching whether we are doing the right thing or not, he added.
The candidates who have won and their workers are all going to live together with losing candidates and their workers in the same ward or constituency, he said asking the elected local representatives to respect the mandate of the people and to work honestly and integrity for the welfare of the people.
He said his government is ready to provide all possible help to the local bodies.
Local bodies in rural or urban which include Municipal Councils, Nagar Panchayats, ADCs, Zilla Parishad, are all people of the State and it is the duty of the State Government to look after them, he said.
We also have faced defeats at some three or four Councils with a little margin which we should consider as a wakeup call for us, the Chief Minister continued.
The people of Manipur are not interested in hearing nonsense and are interested only is what the party has accomplished attested by facts, figures and examples, he continued.
What they want is direct benefit and we need to understand the pulse of the people, the CM observed.
The next general election is knocking at the door and you (newly elected candidates) people should take a major responsibility, he said, and added you should also support our other party members who have lost in the election and work together with them.
Deputy Chief Minister Gaikhangam speaking at the function said the Congress has witnessed some decline in other parts of the country, whereas in Manipur it seems to be only gaining on the trust of the people.
Out of the 26 seats available in the recent local body election, the Congress will have more than 21 seats, he said elaborating further that more than 90 percent of the successful independent candidates are Congress backed.
There were just too many who applied for the Congress tickets and to be fair to all we have decided to let the winners join the party, he said.