Manipur Elections 2017: First Phase polling begins on 38 seats

Imphal: Polling began in Manipur for the first phase of the state assembly elections, which would be a major test for the ruling government Congress, who has been in power in the state for the last 15 years.

In the first of the two phases of the elections, 38 seats out of a total of 60 will go to polls, including the major constituencies of hills and Imphal Valley. The remaining 22 constituencies will witness voting in the second phase on March 8.

The campaigning for the polls ended at 1500 hours on Friday.

There are 168 candidates in the fray for these polls and it could be mentioned that the Bharatiya Janata Party is the only one who has fielded candidates on all 60 seats in the entire state.

The Chief Election Officer VK Dewang said, “All preparations have been made to conduct incident-free polling in the 1,643 polling stations in these constituencies.”

Quick facts about the Manipur elections:

• Chief Electoral Officer is VK Dewang.
• The state's 38 constituencies go to poll today.
• The remaining 22 constituencies go to the polls on March 8.
• The ruling Congress fielded 59 candidates.
• The current chief minister, Okram Ibobi Singh is from Congress who has been leading Manipur assembly for three terms.
• Key candidates contesting in first phase are Speaker of Manipur Legislative Assembly, Thokchom Lokeshwar Singh from Khundrakpam, Nongthombam Biren Singh from the BJP, the Chief Minister's nephew Okram Henry and BJP's state President Thounaojam Chaoba Singh.
• Governor of the state is Dr. Najma A Heptulla.