Imphal, Jan 6 : Mairenbam Prithiviraj, Congress party`s MLA-elect to the Manipur legislative Assembly in the recently concluded Moirang Assembly constituency by-election, was on Monday sworn in as member of the state legislative Assembly in the presence of House leader, chief minister O Ibobi Singh, opposition leader Radhabinod Koijam and other members of the legislative Assembly.
The oath taking ceremony was conducted by Speaker of the House, Dr. Sapam Budhichandra.
The December 27, 2008 Moirang by-elections came about following the sudden demise of M Manindra, father of M Prithiviraj and the then sitting MLA of the Congress.
It was, according to reports, seen as a direct fight between the Congress and the Manipur People`s Party, MPP, with only the two having nominated their candidates.
While the Congress pitched M Prithiviraj, son of the late MLA, the MPP pitched the veteran Heman Bir Singh. However, Prithiviraj made his maiden official entry into politics by defeating his lone rival by a margin of 4889 getting 16,225 votes out of 27,561 while Bir Singh reportedly got the remaining 11,336.
Even as the Congress led Secular Progressive Front (SPF) government is completing seven years of power in the state, it is worth mentioning here that this by-election is reportedly the second in the second term of the government; the first being held in 2007 following the sudden death of Th Nabakumar, MLA of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) in April, 2007.