Lok Sabha Elections 2024: NDA gets shock in conflict-hit Manipur, loses three seats in the Northeast

Congress makes a comeback by increasing its tally from four in 2019 to seven

Guwahati: The ruling BJP and its ally Naga People's Front (NPF) in conflict-hit Manipur suffered a shock as they lost both the Lok Sabha seats to opposition Congress while the NDA lost three seats in the Northeast compared to its tally in 2019 polls.

In the Inner Manipur seat, a Meitei-dominated constituency that BJP considered as good as won, its candidate Basanta Kumar Singh lost to Congress's Bimol Akoijam by a margin of over one lakh votes.

The BJP lost the Inner Manipur seat despite replacing the sitting MP and Union Minister Raj Kumar Ranjan Singh and fulfilling several demands of the majority Meitei community.

The winner, Akoijam, an associate professor of JNU who had joined Congress months before the elections, had said that the people wanted a change in the BJP-led government, both in the state and at the Centre. He alleged that the ruling party at the Centre had failed to tackle the Meitei-Kuki conflict that continued for more than a year. "It's a victory for the people, who yearned for a change," Akoijam told reporters in Imphal after the results on Tuesday.

In Outer Manipur seat, where Nagas and Kukis are deciding factors, NPF candidate Timothy Zimik lost to Alfred K Arthur of Congress. BJP had supported the NPF candidate.

Congress said people gave a "fitting reply" to BJP through votes as it neglected their pleas to end the conflict. Zu United, a forum of Kuki-Zo people in a statement said the community explicitly expressed the displeasure against the Manipur government through the elections.

In Assam, NDA increased its taly from nine in 2019 to 11. BJP retained its 2019 tally of nine while two of its allies, Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and UPPL won one seat each. AGP candidate Phani Bhushan Choudhury, who was supported by BJP, won the Barpeta seat for the first time.

In 2019 and before, Congress had won in Barpeta, which was a Muslim-majority seat but the delimitation exercise carried out last year redrawn its demography and thereby turning into a Hindu-majority seat.

Under the pre-poll alliance, BJP supported another AGP candidate Javed Islam in Muslim-dominant Dhubri, from where Badruddin Ajmal of AIUDF was elected thrice in a row. Ajmal, however, lost to senior Congress leader and former minister Rakibul Hussain by over 9.8 lakh votes.

AIUDF, seen as a pro-Muslim party, contested in three but drew a blank for the first time. The UPPL, BJP's another ally, won the ST-reserved Kokrajhar seat in Bodo heartland and made its debut in Lok Sabha. Congress retained its 2019 tally of three seats, Jorhat, Dhubri and Nagaon. In Jorhat, Gaurav Gogoi, defeated Topon Kumar Gogoi, BJP's sitting MP by over 1.44 lakh votes. Gaurav was the only Opposition candidate who won in an eastern Assam constituency where anti-CAA sentiment is believed to be stronger.

Observers believe that polarisation tactics of BJP helped NDA increase the tally from nine to 11 in Assam while Muslim votes got consolidated in favour of Congress, allowing it to win in Muslim-dominated Dhubri and Nagaon seat. Congress had won Nagaon also in 2019.

The ruling National People's Party (NPP) in Meghalaya, another ally of BJP, lost the Tura seat to Congress while three-time Congress MP, Vincent Pala lost the prestigious Shillong seat to Voice of People Party, a new regional party. BJP had extended support to NPP candidates, Agatha Sangma (Tura) and Ampareen Lyngdoh (Shillong).

In Tripura, BJP candidate and former CM Biplab Kumar Deb won in Tripura West seat while Kriti Singh Debbarma, sister of Tipra Motha chief Pradyot Debbarma won in the ST-reserved Tripura East. BJP candidates, Union Minister Kiren Rijiju and Tapir Gao retained the two seats in Arunachal Pradesh.

There was shock in store for BJP and its ally NDPP in Nagaland, where Congress made a surprising comeback by winning the lone Lok Sabha seat. The Congress at present does not have an MLA in the state. The ruling Zoram People's Movement snatched the lone seat in Mizoram from the Opposition Mizo National Front, an ally of the NDA, while in Sikkim, the ruling Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM) retained its only seat. SKM, an ally of the NDA, also retained the Assembly for the second term on Sunday.

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