Exit polls: How Congress beat anti-incumbency in Manipur

It was a mixed bag in Manipur where the exit polls 2017 are concerned. While some polls gave the Congress a big win, others predicted that the BJP would take the state. According to the India Today-My Axis India exit polls, the Congress is winning 30 to 36 seats in Manipur.

If the Congress wins the state there would be a couple of factors that would have worked in its favour. The exit poll says that BJP would win 16 to 22 states and would not be able to wrest power from the Congress that has ruled the state for 15 years.

The key highlight of this poll is that Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh has managed to beat the anti-incumbency wave. He has in fact used the economic blockade that paralysed the state for 127 days to his advantage. If the exit poll results are anything to go by then, Singh has managed to tell the people that the centre had not cooperated with the state government in solving the problem.

The Congress in the run up to the elections managed to rope in several BJP leaders who were disgruntled for not getting tickets. This could be another favour that may have worked for the Congress.

If the exit polls are right then the BJP would ponder over a couple of factors. The BJP should have played a better role in sorting out the crisis as a result of the economic blockade. Further it would introspect on its ticket distribution.

OneIndia News