The Manipur bypoll results will help chief minister N. Biren Singh not only consolidate his position but will also ensure a smooth run for the BJP-led coalition government he has been heading since 2017 till the next Assembly polls in 2022.
The ruling BJP won three — Wangjing-Tentha, Saitu and Wangoi — of the four seats where bypolls were held on November 7. The Lilong seat was won by an Independent candidate, a former BJP leader, but he too is set to join the party. The BJP had won the Singhat Assembly seat unopposed on October 23 and for all practical purposes, making it five out of five for the party.
The victory improved the BJP’s strength to 23 in the 53-member Assembly.
With its allies — the NPP (4), the NPF (4), the TMC (1), the LJP (1), Independents (2) and an unattached member (1) — the BJP’s strength goes up to 36, giving Biren Singh more than enough room to manoeuvre challenges posed by the pressure of leading a coalition government and an Opposition Congress ever ready to fish in troubled waters, party insiders said.
Biren Singh and his government have been saddled with an intense power tussle within the BJP legislature party and the demands of the coalition partners since he assumed charge in 2017, but this is set to change going by the reactions to the bypoll victory.
Almost all senior BJP leaders have congratulated Biren Singh and the election team on the victory, made more special because all the five seats were held by the Opposition Congress. “It is a very good victory. It will strengthen the party-led government. Not only will it check infighting but it will also ensure stability and ensure a smooth run till the next state polls in 2022,” state BJP president S. Tikendra Singh said.
Bypolls to the five seats were necessitated following the resignation of the Congress MLAs who had switched to the BJP, barring one. All the four MLAs took oath on November 12.
“A huge day for @BJP4Manipur! We won 4 out of 5 seats — @BJP4Manipurcontested only in 4 ACs (Assembly constituencies) — in #Manipur Assembly Bypoll. Once again the people of Manipur show their trust in principles & ideology of @BJP4India & leadership of Hon’ble PM, Shri @narendramodi ji,” Biren Singh had tweeted after the results.
The chief minister celebrated the victory at his official bungalow with a small get-together on November 10, the day of the result. The five newly elected MLAs, senior party and coalition leaders, including those from the NPF and the NPP were present, Tikendra Singh said.
The NPP had unsuccessfully contested in one seat.
The celebration was in order because 2020 had been particularly testing for Biren Singh. The BJP-led government was in a spot before the June 19 Rajya Sabha polls when nine MLAs supporting his coalition government withdrew support, a close aide said.
Biren Singh not only ensured the BJP won the Rajya Sabha polls but also the trust vote on August 10 — 28 to 16 — by a voice vote after eight Congress MLAs abstained from the proceedings.
Tuesday’s bypoll results will now help Biren Singh consolidate his position both within the party and among coalition partners by increasing his bargaining power, party insiders said. However, worries for the Opposition Congress grew as it drew a blank.The party needs to do some serious introspection if it wants to challenge the BJP in the next Assembly polls, Congress insiders said.
The Congress now has 17 MLAs, down from the 28 seats it had won in the 2017 polls.
Calls to the state Congress leaders were not answered.
BJP national spokesperson Mmhonlumo Kikon said, “The BJP is now firmly entrenched in Manipur and will only grow from strength to strength in the days to come. The electorate of Manipur have thoroughly rejected the Congress and this trend will even continue in the next Assembly elections.”
The BJP received a boost in the run-up to the Assembly bypolls after High Court of Manipur on November 5 paved the way for BJP candidate Mayanglangbam Rameshwar, who had finished in second place in the 2017 state polls, to be sworn in as an MLA by declaring the election of Congress candidate Y. Surchandra null and void for not furnishing complete details in his election affidavit.
According to Kikon, the bypoll victory was a strong expression of the faith and trust that the people have reposed in the leadership of Modi and Biren Singh and a vindication of the hold and the reach of the message of development, peace and progress of Manipur under the BJP.
In neighbouring Nagaland, where bypolls were held for two seats, the ruling Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party candidate and an Independent emerged victorious from the Southern Angami-I and Pungro-Kiphire constituencies respectively.
The candidate of the BJP, part of the NDPP-led coalition government, lost to the Independent nominee in Pungro-Kiphire.