Opinion and commentary

How did the BJP become a major player in Manipur’s extremely competitive party system? For long, the BJP was a minor player in the state and won just a two per cent vote share and no seats in the 2012 Assembly elections. It remained a distant third in both outer as well as inner Manipur Lok Sabha seats during the 2014, but the party surprised everyone by winning 36.3 per cent vote share and 21 seats in the 2017 Assembly elections.