Northeast Desk, 4th June: The Congress party is leading in both of Manipur’s Lok Sabha constituencies, Inner and Outer (reserved), as vote counting continues.
In the Inner Manipur constituency, Congress candidate Angomcha Bimol Akoijam is ahead of his nearest rival, BJP’s Thounaojam Basantakumar, by over 62,000 votes. Meanwhile, in the Outer Manipur seat, Congress’s Alfred Kanngam S Arthur is leading by over 2,700 votes against Kachui Timothy Zimik of the Naga People’s Front (NPF). Zimik had initially led, but Arthur closed the gap and eventually overtook him.
Manipur, ruled by the BJP, has only two Lok Sabha seats. Inner Manipur primarily encompasses the valley areas, while Outer Manipur, a reserved constituency, covers nearly all the hill regions.
Akoijam, a 57-year-old professor at Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), hails from the valley-dominant Meitei community. Amid the Manipur crisis, local sentiments suggested his candidacy was favored in assembly constituencies traditionally strong for the Congress. Notably, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi commenced the party’s Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra from a supportive area in Manipur.
Political analysts indicated that Akoijam’s last-minute entry into politics split the Meitei vote. The Meitei community has had conflicts with the Kuki-Zo tribes over land, resources, and affirmative action policies. Notably, no Kuki-Zo candidate contested the election from any party.
The Opposition bloc INDIA leveraged the Manipur ethnic crisis as a significant election issue, criticizing the central government despite rebuttals from Home Minister Amit Shah and Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh.
Manipur’s elections were held in two phases, on April 19 and April 26.
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