GUWAHATI: The BJP will maintain “coalition dharma” in Manipur despite being comfortably placed to form the government on its own.
By winning 32 of the state’s 60 seats, the BJP became the second party after the Congress to get the majority in an Assembly election since 1950 when Manipur became a state of the Indian Union. The Congress had bagged 42 seats in 2012.
Chief Minister N Biren Singh said in no uncertain terms that the BJP would align with like-minded parties, alluding to “coalition dharma”.
The party has decided to dump the National People’s Party (NPP) with which it had a torrid time in the past two years. “I don’t think the NPP will be with us,” Singh told journalists.
During election campaigning, BJP stalwart and Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma had also stated the NPP would not be a part of the next BJP-headed government.
The NPP, which was born in Manipur but raised in Meghalaya where it heads a coalition government, helped the BJP to form a coalition government in Manipur in 2017 when the latter had won 21 seats as against the Congress’ 28 and was cobbling up numbers.
Their relationship strained in due course so much that all four NPP MLAs had walked out of the government until making a return days later following the intervention of Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
It appears that the BJP will continue its alliance with the Naga People’s Front (NPF) which is a component of the state’s coalition government. The BJP’s other options could be Janata Dal (United) and Kuki People’s Alliance which was floated in January this year.
In the run up-to the two-phase polls, there was little doubt the BJP will emerge as the single largest party. A depleted and therefore, weakened Congress made the BJP’s task easy.
The BJP’s advantage was that it is the ruling party at the Centre. It has been a tradition in most states of the Northeast that people vote largely in favour of that party that is in power at the Centre.
Secondly, the Congress considerably lost its ground in the state after half of its 28 MLAs had embraced the BJP over the past five years. It lacked fresh blood and relied heavily on the seasoned former Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh as it went to polls.
The BJP’s various developmental initiatives and welfare schemes also paid off. The party’s biggest achievement, perhaps, was that it had managed to rid the state of bandhs and blockades which were so common during the previous Congress government. The BJP established peace and bridged the gap between the Imphal Valley and the tribal-majority hills.
Talking about the BJP’s success, senior journalist Brozendra Ningomba said the party could capitalise on its achievements, including welfare and development schemes. He said the CM had all along tried to maintain a very close relationship with the people.
There are two particular days every month when he meets people of the Imphal Valley and the hills. He listens to their grievances and tries to solve them, Ningomba said.
“I think it was Singh’s wave, not BJP’s wave. It is not that the BJP government could do everything but its performance was better than that of the previous Congress government,” he said.
He also said that the Congress suffered as most of its winnable candidates had defected to the BJP.
The Congress also failed to woo voters. Rahul Gandhi had visited the state once for campaigning but the party’s other star campaigners stayed away. Also, people were, possibly, not enthusiastic about the Congress as it failed in most places in recent years, Ningomba added.
Congress leader Meghachandra said the party could not fare well as the BJP had allegedly used money and muscle powers.
“We had repeatedly complained to the Election Commission. The All India Congress Committee had also petitioned it but no action was taken,” Meghachandra said.