Emotional Irom quits politics after disastrous debut

IMPHAL: Manipur’s iconic activist Irom Sharmila on Saturday announced she is quitting electoral politics, barely a few hours after her debut polls ended in a debacle – she managed just 90 votes in her contest against chief minister O Ibobi Singh.

“I don’t feel ashamed of my defeat, but am fed up of elections and won’t contest again in future,” Sharmila told Hindustan Times.

“But I want my party, Peoples Resurgence and Justice Alliance (PRJA) to survive,” she said.

For 16 years, Sharmila was a role-model for the people of Manipur, a fearless activist who staged the world’s longest hunger strike against what is widely seen as a draconian law.

And her decision to contest the 2017 assembly election against the Congress chief minister was billed as the battle to watch out for this poll season.

On Saturday, the battle emerged as a no-contest as Sharmila, 43, managed just 90 votes to hand, probably, one of the easiest electoral victories for the Congress leader.

Sharmila said she wants to go on a month-long retreat to an ‘ashram’ in south India, most likely in Kerala or Karnataka, and contemplate.

“It was not the result I expected. During electioneering, all the masses whom I met were sympathetic to my cause. But they ended up voting for others, due to their selfish motives,” she said.

Experts attribute Sharmila’s debacle to her calling off her strike against the AFSPA, which many saw as big climbdown.