The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has retained majority in Manipur with the victory made sweeter by the fact that the party has won solo. The man widely credited with delivering the feat for the BJP is N Biren Singh who will return as Chief Minister in the northeastern state.
The BJP has won 32 seats in the 60-member Manipur Assembly and received 37.83% votes this time against 21 seats and 36.3% votes in 2017 when it had tied up with the National People’s Party (NPP), Naga People’s Front (NPF), the lone Trinamool Congress MLA and an Independent member.
Speaking to News18.com during campaigning, Biren Singh had opined that the alliance was not the right call and set out to tackle the challenge of solo victory. The first step towards this was effort was taken at the start of his previous tenure when the CM moved to stabilise the government in the face of uncertain allies. Biren Singh held hectic parleys and ensured the government was on stable footing.
He was successful in brining onboard leaders from the Congress in 2017, further eroding the grand old party’s base. Having lost its main players to the BJP, the Congress headed into the 2022 elections with no state unit chief even two months prior. More than 10 MLAs, including Biren Singh’s son-in-law and former chief minister Ibobi Singh’s nephew Henry Okhram Singh, had jumped ship to the BJP.
The government secured, Biren Singh set out to strengthen his own position in the party amid factionalism. Originally from the Congress, camp Biren Singh had to contend with old-timers and multiple contenders to the CM’s seat. Slowly and behind the scenes, Biren saw off the competition and even handled disgruntled rebels following the release of candidates’ list.
Significantly, The CM also struck a balance between the valley and the hills in Manipur. The valley areas have 40 seats in the Assembly, while the hills have 20. Previous elections have been lopsided outreach in favour of the valley, but this time the BJP’s ‘Go to the Hills’ and ‘Talk to the CM’ programs worked wonders to enlist support of voters in the hills.
The state enjoyed relatively peaceful five years under Biren Singh but the calm was shattered by the Churachandpur ambush in November last year in which five soldiers, including the Commanding Officer of 46 Assam Rifles, his wife and son were killed in an attack on their convoy. The CM also raised demands for Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) to be removed in the state, but the party manifesto tactfully remained mum on it.
It would be interesting to watch how Biren Singh operates now in independent majority without the compulsion of allies.
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