BJP emerges bigger in Manipur as it retains the northeast state: Here are 5 key takeaways

Solidifying its presence in North-East, BJP stormed to victory in Manipur, winning a bigger mandate than 2017 - scooping 32 seats in the 60-member Assembly. BJP, which fell out with NPP in the state, has now allied with Naga People's Front (NPF) to form a new coalition government. N Biren Singh - the incumbent CM who was re-elected - has resigned as CM and a new leader will soon be elected.

Here are key takeaways:

BJP retains Manipur

After forming the first NDA govt in Manipur in 2017, BJP managed to win a simple majority with 32 seats- a first for the saffron party. Deciding to contest polls alone on all 60 seats, BJP amassed 37.8% of the votes. Its rivals -NEDA ally NPP won 7 seats, NPF won 5 seats, JD(U) won 6 seats and the Congress was reduced to 5 seats.

The NDA govt was reduced to a minority when 4 NPP MLAs and Independent MLA Ashab Uddin withdrew support and supported Congress' stake. With the intervention of  NEDA convenor and Assam Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, NPP chief and Meghalaya CM Conrad Sangma met with former BJP chief Amit Shah and renewed its support to the BJP. Later it won the high-stakes lone Rajya Sabha seat and then the trust vote in the Assembly, however, fell out with NPP - which refused to contest polls in coalition with BJP.

BJP expands vote share

In 2017, BJP had managed to win 21 seats and 36.3% votes - breaking into the north-eastern frontier for the first time. While the Congress had won 28 seats, BJP managed to enlist the NPP, NPF and LJP's support to form its first govt in the state. In 2022, BJP has bettered its tally by winning 32 seats and 37.8% of the votes, eating into Congress' voteshare.

JD(U) makes inroads

In a spectacular expansion outside Bihar, the Nitish Kumar-led JD(U) won 6 seats and 10.77% of the votes. Winning its first seat in 22 years, JD(U) has expanded into the hills sub-region, where NPP and NPF are more ppular. JDU has managed to win seats that were traditionally held by Congress in these parts.

JD (U)’s national president Rajiv Ranjan said that the results were an affirmation to Nitish Kumar's brand of politics. He said, "We could see the attraction among people for Nitish brand of politics for development".  Despite being a non-Hindi-speaking area, JD(U) - a traditional Bihar party - has expanded into Bihar, taking it closer to national party status. JDU is set to contest polls in Meghalaya and Nagaland in 2023.

Congress decimated

In 2020, Congress was shaken when 6 out of 24 Congress MLAs refused to support the no-confidence motion it moved against the Biren Singh government. 6 of the 8 Congress MLAs -  Okram Henry Singh,  Oinam Lukhoi, Md Abdul Nasir, Paonam Brojen, Ngamthang Haokip, and Ginsuanhau Zou resigned from the Legislative Assembly and 5 of them excluding Md Abdul Nasir - later joined the BJP.  The BJP won 4 out of 5 seats in the consecutive by-polls.

Failing to recover from the loss, Congress has been reduced to mere 5 seats and 16.83% of the votes. This is a severe decrease from 2017 when it won 28 seats and 35.1% of the votes. Congress' CM face - Okram Ibobi Singh - saved face for the grand old party by winning Thoubal again.