The Janata Dal (U) has been campaigning rather vigorously in the Manipur Assembly polls, against its own ally, the BJP, and has declared that it has the potential to emerge as a “kingmaker” in the election.
The party is contesting in 38 out of the 60 seats after initially having planned to fight only 20. “We had initially thought we would fight on 20 seats, but we found many good candidates, including ex-police officer Thounaojam Brinda,” said Afaque Ahmad Khan, general secretary of the JD(U) and party in charge of the Manipur polls. Many of those denied ticket in the BJP and the Congress, comprising even sitting MLAs, have also made a beeline for JD(U).
