The grounds in Manipur were set for a Bharatiya Janata Party win, and there was a whiff in the air of that during the election campaigning.
The Congress is turning out to be the biggest loser and that too was expected following its erosion in the state since 2017.
Regional outfits National People’s Party (NPP) and Naga People’s Front (NPF) were seen as the “dark horses” in the run-up to the polls, and the emerging results show that they have performed better than the Congress.
The biggest shock for the Congress has been the defeat of its state president N Loken Singh from Nambol to the BJP’s Thounaojam Basanta Kumar Singh.
The NPP too received a blow as deputy chief minister Y Joykumar Singh lost to the BJP’s Khwairakpam Raghumani Singh in Uripok.
In terms of numbers so far, the NPP seems to be the main opposition. But if its old alliance with the BJP rejuvenate itself remains to be seen.
Bihar’s ruling Janata Dal (United) interestingly got the lead in two Manipur seats on debut but former super cop Thounaojam Brinda lost from Yasikul, coming in third, with BJP candidate Thokchom Satyabrata Singh emerging victorious.
Adhikarimayum Sharda Devi, BJP’s Manipur president, told News18, “We are very happy, we will reach the magic number. We have defeated Congress state president Loken Singh. We have defeated NPP deputy CM Joykumar. We are very pleased.”
Chief minister N Biren Singh in a press conference thanked the people of the state and the central government for their support.
After the 2017 experience of winning the Manipur election but still losing out due to desertions, the Congress had sent in its central leaders such as Jairam Ramesh and Salman Khurshid to protect its candidates from poaching. But that proved entirely unnecessary.
BJP sources say that now the Northeast is now “Congress mukt” (free from Congress).
Both NPP and NPF are allies of the BJP in the region. Will they sit in opposition is also another question.
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