Imphal: The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won as many as 32 seats in the 60-member Manipur Legislative Assembly– just enough to be able to form the next government as the counting of votes for the Manipur assembly almost completed late on Thursday.
The Congress which was the largest party in the 2017 elections won only five seats to reduce to the fourth position along with Naga People’s Front (NPF). However, NPP emerged as the second largest party by securing seven seats.
The NPF won five seats, marking one increase from its previous tally of four in the last 2017 elections while Kuki People’s Alliance (KPA) won two seats. The remaining three seats went to independent candidates.
Among the prominent leaders who got re-elected in the two-phase polls to the state Assembly included incumbent chief minister N Biren Singh of BJP, former three time chief minister O Ibobi Singh of Congress and most of the incumbent ministers of the BJP.
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NPP national vice president and former Manipur DGP, Y Joykumar who is also the incumbent deputy chief minister of the party, incumbent Agriculture minister O Lukhoi of BJP and senior Congress leader and former deputy Chief Minister Gaikhangam of Congress were among the prominent leaders who lost the elections this time.
Yet another woman candidate who attracted considerable media attention in these elections was cop-turned politician Th Brinda who contested from the Yaiskul seat on the JD(U)’s ticket. She also lost the election. She came third.
In the 2017 polls, the Congress which was facing three-term anti-incumbency emerged as the single largest party by winning 28 seats while the BJP could corner only 21 of the 60 assembly seats.
For the Congress, the party that served the state longest under the leadership of Okram Ibobi Singh, for the first time in the political history of the state reduced to single digit by winning only five seats this time.
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The election results showed the BJP that has just about passed the simple majority mark by winning 32 seats, an increase of 11 from its 2017 tally.
NNN