BJP Losing Ground in Strife-Torn Manipur LS Election, Survey Reveals

In a recent survey conducted in Manipur, alarming trends have emerged for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ahead of the impending Lok Sabha elections. The findings indicate a substantial decline in the BJP’s electoral prospects in the strife-torn state, marking a significant shift in the political landscape.

Against the backdrop of escalating violence and ethnic tensions, the survey highlighted a dwindling support base for the BJP, once considered a formidable political entity in Manipur. Factors such as the persistent unrest, ethnic clashes, and perceived government inaction have contributed to the erosion of the party’s popularity among the voters. The party’s inability to quell ethnic grievances, restore peace and provide tangible solutions to the state’s pressing issues has alienated segments of the electorate.

As in the past, various Imphal media houses conducted a ground survey at various places in and around Imphal to ascertain the position of various candidates and political parties in the Inner Parliamentary Constituency. Video surveys of various media houses have been doing rounds on social media platforms . Most respondents in the survey video are womenfolk who runs shop vendors in and around the Imphal city. As per the video, most respondents have discarded the ruling party BJP for their inability to quell the violence which began in May 2023. Many have blamed the BJP for the violence in Manipur and also for prolonging the violence for about 11 months without any sign of amelioration. Some voiced their opinion to refrain from voting the RPI (Athawale) candidate as the party is a partner in the NDA at central level which makes voting him akin to voting the BJP.

“At first we thought of giving our vote to Maheshwar, but after learning he is contesting in BJP partner ticket, we decided to give our vote to Bimol”, said one of the woman who was running a shop at Khwairamband Bazar Ima Market. “The most qualified candidate is Bimol”, said another woman while a man boldly claimed that his vote will go to the actor turned politician Maheshwar Thounaojam.

Most of the survey video conducted by the Media houses released on public domains put the BJP in the backseat, indicating that the ruling party has lost ground in their home turf. In the last parliamentary assembly election, the BJP managed to comfortably win the Inner seat with a huge margin while the Outer seat went to the NPF, an ally in the NDA.

On the other hand, the BJP Samvad Survey in Manipur has gone horribly wrong where a voice clip of BJP Samvad Survey in Manipur has been doing the rounds on Social Media. In the viral voice clip, a woman, probably from the BJP, talked to a man over the phone as part of the BJP Samvad Survey. A question, “What can the BJP government do for you?, kindly share your suggestion” was posed to the man, where he humorously replied “it will be such joy if the party can offer us Rs. 1 Crore”. Here, the man did not seem to take the party seriously. The woman then went on to ask if he has any choice among the many schemes introduced by the BJP, to which the man replied “I like all of them but I don’t know even one of them”. Next, the woman went an extra mile saying “In Sir’s opinion, do you think another political party or leader will be able to bring solution”, to which the man sarcastically replied saying “I think the present dispensation is far better than any other; attack, retreat, engage, retreat, don’t you think this is better? Because if other party comes to power, it will end the war. Now, many who did not have the opportunity to hold guns are now holding guns”. He continued in his sarcastic tone saying “with the coming of BJP government, many places we hardly heard before such as Khamenlok, we are fortunate to hear about them and I am so happy for this”. The man, with sarcasm continued to belittle the BJP by further saying “And since we are no longer able to drive down till Churachandpur, it saves a lot of fuel and abstain us from long drive or travelling”. He also ridiculed the woman who was calling from the BJP party by saying “We can no longer visit Moreh too. Whenever we visit Moreh, my wife and kids demands a lot of things, and now the money spent on such things remain unspent. It saves a lot of fuel and everyting, thanks to BJP government”.

This viral voice clip highlighted how the people of Kangleipak no longer took the BJP seriously, even engaging with them in a serious conversation for such surveys seems to be a waste of time for the people. This survey has indicated that the current dispensation is losing ground in what could be called their “home turf” after winning 32 out of the 60 seats in the last state assembly election. This was corroborated by the party’s inability to find a willing candidate for the Inner Parliamentary seat, nominating a sitting MLA and Minister in the last minute saved their blushes. With the election looming, the party faced the daunting task of regaining lost ground and restoring confidence amongst disillusioned voters amidst the backdrop of the ongoing unrest.