Congress wrests both Manipur seats, JNU professor among winners

GUWAHATI: Congress wrested Manipur from BJP and its ally, NPF, with both Meitei-dominated valley and tribal-majority hills voting in grand old party after a year of ethnic strife that has cost over 200 lives.
While JNU professor Angomcha Bimol Akoijam defeated state minister and BJP candidate Thounaojam Basantakumar in Inner Manipur, in the hills Alfred Kanngam S Arthur beat NPF’s Kachui Timothy Zimik in Outer Manipur seat.
For voters across the valley and the hills, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi’s visit to the state during the height of the ethnic clashes provided them the attention they had sought from New Delhi. This was something that PM Narendra Modi failed to deliver, and the people reciprocated accordingly.
Manipur Pradesh Congress Committee president Keisham Meghachandra Singh, expressed gratitude to the state’s people for electing Congress candidates in both seats and dedicated the electoral success to people who have suffered in the strife and those driven from their homes by violence to relief camps.
AICC member and senior spokesperson for Manipur Pradesh Congress Committee Ningombam Bupenda Meitei wrote on ‘X’: “Leave 400, the people of Manipur have rejected the outgoing PM Modi by giving a margin of 1.5 lakh votes for INC candidate, Dr. @Bimol_Akoijam and a margin of more than 0.7 lakh votes for another Congress candidate, Alfred Arthur, in 2 seats from Manipur (sic).”