Manipur Polls 2017: 86 per cent voter turnout recorded till 1700 hrs

Imphal: The polling that started at 0700 hours on Wednesday in Manipur ended at 1700 hours after recording 86 per cent turnout.

The polling began for the second of the two-phase of the state assembly elections in the North eastern state of Manipur. In this phase, 22 remaining seats out of a total of 60 will go to polls in the 5 districts namely, Thoubal, Ukhrul, Chandel, Tmenglal and Senapati.

It may be mentioned that the first phase of election recorded 84 per cent of polling on 38 assembly seats. The campaigning for the polls ended at on March 6.

The second phase of the elections would be a major test for the ruling government Congress, who has been in power in the state for the last 15 years. The fight is between current chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh, who is from Congress and has been leading Manipur assembly for three terms and the activist Irom Sharmila, who gain popularity due to fasting for sixteen years to remove AFSPA from the state.

A total of 98 candidates are contesting in these constituencies for the polls. It could be mentioned that the Bharatiya Janata Party is the only one which 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 and the voting has started peacefully at 0700 hours at 1,151 polling stations in these constituencies.”

Quick facts about the Manipur elections:

• Chief Electoral Officer is VK Dewang.
• The state’s 22 constituencies go to poll today.
• The remaining 38 constituencies have already witnessed the voting on Sunday last.
• The ruling Congress fielded 42 candidates.
• The current chief minister, Okram Ibobi Singh is from Congress who has been leading Manipur assembly for three terms.
• Irom Sharmila led People Resources and Justice alliance party is contesting elections on the three seats of total 60.
• Governor of the state is Dr. Najma A Heptulla.