Polling begins in 22 constituencies for last phase of Manipur Assembly polls

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The polling for the second and last phase of Manipur Assembly elections began on Saturday. Starting at 7 am, the voting is underway at 22 constituencies spread across six districts in the state. Polling will continue till 4 pm. The 22 contituencies that are going to polls today include Lilong, Thoubal, Wangkhem, Heirok, Wangjing Tentha, Khangabo, Wabgai, Kakching, Hiyanglam, Sugnoo, Jiribam, Chandel (ST), Tengnoupal (ST), Phungyar (ST), Ukhrul (ST), Chingai (ST), Karong (ST), Mao (ST), Tadubi (ST), Tamei (ST), Tamenglong (ST), and Nungba (ST).

There are 1,247 polling stations in the second phase of the Manipur Assembly elections. A total of about 8.38 lakh voters are eligible to exercise their franchise in this phase. As many as 92 candidates, including two women, are in the fray whose electoral fate will be decided in the second phase of Assembly polls. The voters who are COVID positive or are under quarantine will be allowed to vote at the last hour, between 3 pm to 4 pm. The results of the Manipur Assembly Elections will be declared on March 10.

On March 3, the Election Commission has imposed a ban on all kinds of political campaigns for the second phase of the state assembly polls slated to be held on March 5. The term of the current Manipur government began on March 20, 2017, and is slated to end on March 19, 2022. Manipur has a total of sixty assembly constituencies of which 38 assembly constituencies went for polls in the first phase of voting held on February 28.

With the conclusion of the first phase of Manipur Assembly elections on February 28, the state recorded an average voter turnout of 78.30 per cent, as per the Election Commission of India (ECI). Notably, this time the BJP decided to go solo and is contesting all 60 seats alone. On the other hand, Congress has formed an alliance of six political parties and named it Manipur Progressive Secular Alliance (MPSA). The coalition partners in MPSA include Congress, Communist Party of India (CPI), Communist Party of India (Marxist), Forward Bloc, Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP), and Janata Dal (Secular).

In the 2017 Manipur Assembly elections, Congress emerged as the single largest party winning 28 seats followed by the BJP which settled with 21 seats. The National People's Party (NPP) and Naga People's Front (NPF) bagged four seats each while the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) managed to secure only one constituency. BJP bagged 36.28 per cent vote share while Congress received 35.11 per cent of the total vote. Later, BJP stitched a coalition with the NPP, NPF and LJP to form the government under the leadership of Biren Singh.

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