With six seats and 10% votes, JD(U) all set to get status of a 'state party' in Manipur

PATNA: With securing more than 10.75% votes and winning six seats out of total 60 in Manipur assembly polls on Thursday, Bihar’s ruling JD(U) is all set to get the status of a ‘state party’ in another northeast state after Arunachal Pradesh.
JD(U) got the status of a ‘state party’ in Arunachal Pradesh after it secured around 9.88% votes and won 7 of the 15 seats it contested in 2019 assembly polls.It is already recognised as a ‘state party’ in its home turf Bihar.
As per the provisions under the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order- 1968, a registered party has to fulfil any of the following conditions for recognition as a State Party: (1) A party should secure at least 6% of valid votes polled in an election to the state legislative assembly and win at least 2 seats in that state assembly. (2) A party should secure at least 6% of valid votes polled in an election to Lok Sabha and win at least 1 seat in Lok Sabha.
(3) A party should win a minimum three percent of the total number of seats or a minimum of three seats in the legislative assembly, whichever is higher. (4) A party should win at least one seat in the Lok Sabha for every 25 seats or any fraction thereof allotted to that state. (5) A party should secure 8% or more of the total valid votes polled in the state.
In Manipur, the JD(U) has fulfilled three of the five provisions for getting the status of a ‘state party’ by securing more than 10.75% votes and winning 10% of the total seats.
Expressing satisfaction over the party’s performance in Manipur, JD(U) national general secretary and the party’s In-charge for northeast states Afaque Ahmad Khan told TOI on Thursday, “Our dream of getting the status of a ‘state party’ has now been fulfilled. We will now focus on the next assembly polls in Nagaland to get the tag ‘state party’ from the fourth state, so that the JD(U) can be recognised as a ‘national party’ by next year.”
In fact, the JD(U) won assembly seats in Manipur after a gap of 22 years. The party had won only one seat in the state in the 2000 assembly polls. But it failed to win any seat in the successive elections in Manipur. In the 2017 assembly polls, the JD(U) didn’t contest in Manipur as per the party’s policy decision.
The erstwhile Samata Party of George Fernandes and Nitish Kumar, which later merged into the JD(U) in 2003, also had won one seat in Manipur in the 2000 assembly polls. Moreover, the then Samata Party’s lone MLA Radhabinod Koijam was sworn in as the 24th chief minister of Manipur on February 15, 2001. Koijam became the second chief minister from Samata Party after Nitish Kumar who was sworn in as Bihar CM for the first time on March 3, 2000.
As the Nitish-led government in Bihar fell in seven days, the Koijam government was short-lived. The coalition Koijam was leading fell in May, 2001. The Koijam government lasted for 106 days.
The six seats the JD(U) won in Manipur are Churachandpur, Jiribam, Lilong, Thangmeiband, Tipaimukh and Wangkhei.