Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) appears to lead in 21 of the 60 seats of Manipur, as per the Election Commission of India (ECI) trends at 12:30 P.M on March 10, 2022. While a BJP lead was expected to retain power in the state as per exit polls, the party may only just about cross the halfway mark instead of the landslide victory that it had envisioned.
ECI trends showed that BJP was leading with 21 seats around 12:30 P.M, followed by National People’s Party (NPP) in 7 seats. The NPP is an influential party in the region with a footprint in Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya. The party has surpassed the Indian National Congress (Congress) that was once a force to reckon with in the region, but is now on the brink of irrelevance, leading in only 2 seats. The Naga People’s Front (NPF) that decided to go it alone this election, despite being an ally of the BJP in Nagaland, is also showing promise, leading in 6 seats. Surprise entrant Janata Dal (United) had won a seat and was leading in another at the time of going to press.
The trends so far are a far cry from the results of the 2017 elections, when the BJP bagged 21 seats, while the Congress emerged as the single-largest party with 28 seats. BJP members enthusiastically follow this trend.
Following the #ManipurElections2022 results along with office bearers and senior leaders at Thambal Shanglen.@BJP4Manipur leads in 23 of the 41 constituencies where counting has begun. pic.twitter.com/yqZT6ltG5R
— Adhikarimayum Sharda Devi (@AShardaDevi) March 10, 2022
Incumbent Chief Minister Nongthomban Biren Singh was leading in Heingang constituency, followed by Congress candidate Pangeijam Saratchandra Singh with a margin of 16,513 votes. Similarly in Heirok, BJP candidate Thokchom Radheshyam Singh was ahead of INC’s Moirangthem Okendro. Meanwhile, Congress leader and former Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh was leading in Thoubal constituency with a 1,580 vote margin, ahead of BJP candidate Leitanthem Basanta Singh.
Earlier, the Congress formed the Manipur Progressive Secular Alliance with Communist Party of India (CPI), Communist Party of India -Marxist (CPI-M), All India Forward Bloc, Revolutionary Socialist Party and the Janata Dal (Secular). The BJP chose to contest solo.
The state went for polling in two phases on February 28 and March 5. During the first phase, Manipur reported 88.69 percent voter turnout across five districts. Later in the second phase, 90.09 percent voter turnout was reported across six districts. In Goa too, voters reported a great turnout hinting at an anti-incumbency factor. However, BJP seems to be leading in Manipur, Goa, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand for now.
But it is still too soon to call as the ECI website is at present only showing trends for a little over two-thirds (41 out of 60) of the constituencies.
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