Summary
The elections to the Manipur Legislative Assembly revolved around three issues. First- the removal of AFSPA. All parties are unanimous on this issue. Chief Minister N Biren Singh is also said to be in favor that AFSPA should be withdrawn. But he hasn’t tried it yet. Although in these elections they are now promising that talks will be started with the central government in this regard.
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Expansion
According to the exit poll of Zee News Design Box, the BJP government seems to be formed in Manipur. BJP is expected to get 32 to 38 seats in the state. Apart from this, Congress is going to be at number two, which seems to be getting 12-17 seats. NPF is expected to get 3-5 seats in Manipur elections and NPP can get 2-4 seats. If we talk about vote percentage, then BJP has a huge upper hand in this too. BJP’s vote percentage may remain close to 39. Apart from this, Congress can get 30 percent, NPF 9 percent, NPP 6 percent votes. Others can have 16 per cent votes in their account.
BJP played bets on Biren Singh this time too
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party started gaining importance in Manipur from 2014 onwards. In 2016, Congress’s outgoing Chief Minister N Biren Singh joined the BJP and the party’s graph increased further. The BJP won 21 seats for the first time in the 2017 assembly elections. The BJP entered into an agreement with the National People’s Party and the Naga People’s Front to form the government. The party entered the electoral fray by putting forward the face of N Biren Singh in these elections. The BJP had entered the fray in these elections with the slogan of then BJP, then development and double engine government. Manipur CM Biren Singh has been the first journalist of a skilled politician. He is said to be the only leader who knows how to strike a balance between valley and hilly terrain.
These programs of CM gave an edge to BJP
CM N Biren Singh ran three programs for the people of Manipur during his tenure. Among these, programs like ‘Chalo towards the hills’, ‘Chalo towards the villages’ along with ‘CM the Highs’ (Tell the Chief Minister) are very popular among the public. People have also appreciated the work of the BJP government during the Corona transition. There was peace in the state during the BJP rule. However, there are many challenges in front of CM Singh. The first challenge is to keep the leaders from other parties, especially those from the Congress, satisfied and ensure that they do not leave the party after the election results are out. On the other hand, they are largely dependent on the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act. Whereas this law has been criticized a lot in other states of the Northeast including Manipur.
Congress lacks face
The Congress party does not have a single common face in Manipur. Due to this the organization of the party is getting weak in the state. A large number of Congress leaders in the state have left the party and joined the BJP. However, former CM and Congress stalwart Okram Ibobi Singh and former deputy CM Gaikhangam have also entered the electoral fray for Congress this time. The party has forged an alliance with five Left parties to come back to power in the state, on which it is claiming victory. Expressing confidence to form his own government.
NPP and NPF together in government but different in elections
The NPP is, by the way, a party with a good mass base in Meghalaya. But Manipur has its rightful intervention. The NPP also helped the BJP form the government in the 2017 assembly elections and was also involved in the government. But this time the NPP is contesting the elections separately from the BJP. The NPP, which talks about the rights of the local people, has promised people in the elections that if its government is formed with an absolute majority, it will try to remove the Armed Forces Special Powers Act. Whereas NPF exerts more influence in Nagaland. Whereas in Manipur its influence is slightly less. In the 2017 elections, the NPF was with the BJP but is contesting separately in this election.
These issues dominated the Manipur elections
The second issue in the state is that of violence. In the Chudachandrapur incident last year, the issue of the death of six civilians along with Colonel Biplab Tripathi of the Assam Rifles arose in the elections here. The case of the death of 14 civilians in neighboring Nagaland is also related to this. Even in January, incidents of violence in different parts of Manipur are at the center of elections. Pre-poll violence is also common here. People want a permanent solution to this problem. The third issue in the state is to address the lack of water and better road connectivity. Manipur is a drought-prone state and has poor road connectivity between the hills and the plains.
this was the result of last time
Elections to the 60-member Manipur Legislative Assembly were held in two phases. In the first phase of polling held here on February 28, about 78.03 percent voting was recorded on 38 seats. So at the same time, 76.04 voters exercised their franchise for 22 seats in the second phase of polling held on March 5. In the 2017 assembly elections in Manipur, the Congress had won 28 seats. Whereas BJP got 21 seats. But the BJP formed the government on the basis of independents and Congress rebels. In this election, NPF got four, NPEP four, TMC one, Independent got one seat. Whereas in the 2012 assembly elections, the Congress got 42 seats. BJP’s account was not even opened here.