"BJP B-Team" Or A Party Of Rejects? JD(U) A Surprise Package In Manipur

Manipur Elections 2022: Ally BJP has played down the threat claiming JD(U) candidates don't have "winnability".

Away from the media glare, Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal (United) has opened a new front against the BJP in unfamiliar territory - Manipur. Armed with rebels from other parties - largely the BJP and a few from the Congress as well - JD(U) has emerged as the biggest surprise of the Manipur polls. The party is contesting on 39 seats of the total 60 seats with some very formidable candidates, becoming yet another ally taking the BJP head-on in Manipur. JD(U) is BJP's Bihar ally and also a part of the NDA. However, it has in the past spoken against the BJP.

The Bihar Chief Minister's party is contesting mostly BJP rebels, along with two former Congress leaders and one Independent candidate who had won in the 2017 elections. Some high profile names that the JD(U) has bagged include a former chief secretary and former Deputy General of Police, and Brinda Devi, a dynamic lady cop known for a crusade against illegal drugs who left her job to join the police and is a youth icon of sorts in the state.

Khumukcham Joykisan is busy campaigning for the upcoming polls. Half a decade back he was a prominent BJP leader who in 2017 switched over to the Congress and became a firebrand MLA. Congress, however, recently suspended him. This sitting MLA is now contesting on a JD(U) ticket from his traditional Thangmeiband assembly seat and is among a dozen formidable candidates that the party has in Manipur.

Contesting in the state after a gap of 22 years, the JD(U) is a surprise package in this multi-corner poll battle. According to Mr Joykisan, it can pull up an electoral surprise as the BJP did last time.