Her party colleagues were painting a rosy picture always—that she could singlhandedly change political landscape of Manipur, but her former associates, who stood by her during her 16-year long fast, were apprehensive about her plunge into politics. The result: the Iron lady of Manipur faced a humiliating defeat. She won just 84 votes!
From her family members to her former associates, many had advised her not to jump into election bandwagon. “We all asked her to think several times before jumping into the election fray. This is because people were against her as she broke the fast and it would take time to convince them to repose faith in her,” said Singajit Singh, her brother and a rights activist.
However, poll strategist Prashant Kishore's team along with a few Manipuris, who were living outside the state for a long time, became her advisers. Sharmila thought more than her former advisers, she needed the flavour of North India to come to power. Aam Admi Party supported her so did CPI(M). But then they are hardly a force in Manipur to reckon with.
That she was unable to field candidates to every seat points to the fact that she herself hadn't taken the elections seriously, making even those few who were supporting her apprehensive. She failed to realise that half-baked efforts hardly works in any elections and her party Peoples' Resurgence and Justice Alliance (PRJA) faced defeat in all the six seats where she fielded candidates.
Taking a leaf out of Kejriwal's book, she went for a fight against Chief Minister Ibobi Singh and got trounced. When it was found that Ibobi Singh was not invincible—as BJP was giving a tough fight to Congress ruling the state for 15 years—Sharmila was perhaps lamenting for not taking the election seriously. Even an independent candidate received more votes than her.
“We feel sad about it. She should have understood that election is for seasoned politician or could won banking on wave. Nothing was there for her in Manipur. She alienated large part of the society by suddenly calling off fast...She decided to jump into the election without preparation or understanding politics. But I am not ruling her out for ever. If she sticks to wicket, she might find good result in the future,” said her one time associate, O. Kshetrimayum.
Sharmila closed her gates and hasn't come out of her house after the results were out. She hasn't divulged her future plans to anyone although she had said she would get married to her fiancé after election.
