Voting began for 38 Assembly constituencies spread across five districts in the first phase of Manipur Assembly Elections on February 28.
As many as 173 candidates are in the fray for the assembly seats in Imphal East, Imphal West, Bishnupur, Churachandpur, and Kangpokpi districts where voting is underway at 1721 polling stations since 7 am and will continue till 6 pm.
Chief Minister N Biren Singh from Heingang, Speaker Y Khemchand Singh from Singjamei, Deputy CM Yumnam Joykumar Singh from Uripok and state Congress chief N Lokesh Singh from Nambol, are among the prominent candidates in the fray on February 28.
READ | Manipur Elections 2022: The ten constituencies that could decide the polls
As many as 12,09,439 voters including 5,80,607 male, 6,28,657 female and 175 transgender voters are eligible to vote in the first of the two phases of Manipur assembly polls.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has fielded 38 candidates, Congress has 35 and Janata Dal United (JDU) has 28. Out of the 173 candidates, 15 are females while 39 candidates have criminal charges against them.
Voting has started!
Please ensure to cast your vote.#ECI #ElectionCommissionOfIndia #CEOManipur #SVEEP #Election2022 #ManipurVotes2022 #covidsafeelections pic.twitter.com/cxaMBy9KCV— The CEO Manipur (@CeoManipur) February 28, 2022
The high-voltage election campaign in the northeastern state came to an end on February 26.
The scheduled date of polling for the first phase announced on January 8 was February 27, but the election commission rescheduled it for February 28. The polling for remaining 22 seats in the 60-member Manipur Assembly will take place on March 5.
Also, read | Manipur goes to polls under the shadow of guns and AFSPA
In 2017, the BJP formed the government in Manipur with the support of the National People's Party (NPP), Naga People's Front (NPF) and the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP). However, this time the BJP is contesting alone on all 60 seats.
The Congress is fighting the polls as part of the alliance of six political parties called Manipur Progressive Secular Alliance (MPSA). The coalition partners in MPSA include Communist Party of India (CPI), Communist Party of India (Marxist), Forward Bloc, Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP), Janata Dal (Secular), apart from the Congress.
In the 2017 Manipur Assembly elections, Congress had 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 win only one seat.
Also, read | Manipur Elections 2022: Why AFSPA has become an important poll issue this time
Later, the BJP stitched a coalition with the NPP, NPF and LJP and formed the government under the leadership of Biren Singh.
