Manipur BJP leaders admit attacks on MP Bimol Akoijam backfired: Report

Some senior leaders of the BJP in Manipur now believe the party's public attacks on Congress MP Angomcha Bimol Akoijam have backfired and helped raise his popularity among young people in the Imphal Valley, news agency PTI reported, according to India Today.

Akoijam, the Lok Sabha member for Inner Manipur, was dismissed by Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) on October 9 after an internal inquiry into sexual harassment complaints filed by 11 female students. He has denied the allegations, questioned the university's procedure and called the action politically motivated. Delhi Police registered an FIR against him on October 11; he has appeared before investigators and said he will challenge his dismissal in court.

'A complete miscalculation'

According to the report, a senior BJP leader, speaking without being named, said the party should not have made personal attacks on Akoijam and that the strategy had "backfired totally". The leader described a rally led by state BJP president A Sharda Devi against the MP as a "complete miscalculation of ground reality".

Party youth workers have given similar feedback and asked senior leaders how to counter his growing influence, PTI reported. One senior leader is said to have advised them to highlight the Congress central leadership's opposition to the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and contrast it with Akoijam's support for an NRC in Manipur.

BJP MLA Tongbram Robindro Singh has publicly said he trusts Akoijam and praised his work in raising Manipur's concerns in Parliament, while urging him to seek legal recourse to clear his name.

Rival protests in October

Chief Minister Y Khemchand Singh, former chief minister N Biren Singh and Sharda Devi were among those who criticised Akoijam after his dismissal. The BJP women's wing marched towards Congress Bhavan in Imphal on October 10 demanding his resignation from Parliament, BJP women MPs met President Droupadi Murmu on October 13, and the party's youth wing held another march in Imphal on October 16.

On October 14, a large crowd, mostly young people, marched towards the BJP's state headquarters in Imphal, accusing the party of targeting the MP; police stopped some who tried to enter the office. Another group held a sit-in outside his house.

Congress view

State Congress president Okram Ibobi Singh has accused the BJP of seeking political mileage from the allegations and diverting attention from the ethnic conflict, while saying the law should take its course. Some BJP leaders, and Congress sources, told PTI that factionalism within the Manipur Congress could be the bigger obstacle to Akoijam's rise.

In the 2024 Lok Sabha election, Akoijam defeated the BJP's Thounaojam Basanta Kumar Singh in Inner Manipur by 1,09,801 votes. He also led in Singjamei, the Assembly seat now held by the chief minister.

The state BJP had not publicly responded to the report at the time of writing.