Manipur is geared up for the first phase of assembly elections on Monday with 38 of the total 60 seats going to polls. Of the 38 seats, 29 cover West Imphal, East Imphal and Bishenpur districts and the remaining nine cover the hill districts of Kangpokpi and Churachandpur. There are 173 candidates in the fray, including 15 women.
The 38 seats are Thongju, Andro, Lamlai, Thangmeiband, Khundrakpam, Heingang, Khurai, Keirao, Sagolband, Saikot, Imphal, Keisamthong, Wangkhei, Sekmai, Lamsang, Konthoujam, Langthabal, Naoriya Pakhanglakpa, Wangoi, Mayang, Nambol, Moirang, Thanga, Kumbi, Saikul, Kangpokpi, Yaiskul, Singjamei, Saitu, Tipaimukh, Patsoi, Thanlon, Uripok, Henglep, Churachandpur, Singhat, Bishenpur and Oinam. A huge contingent of Central Armed Police Forces personnel has been deployed.
The likes of PM Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, BJP President J.P. Nadda, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, his Tripura counterpart Biplab Kumar Deb, National People’s Party (NPP) supremo Conrad K. Sangma, Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Rajya Sabha MP Jairam Ramesh had campaigned in the state for over two months. Issues like development, drugs, repeal of the Armed Forces (Special Power) Act, 1958 (AFSPA), women empowerment, unemployment and corruption took centre stage of the election campaigns.
In the previous assembly polls held in 2017, the BJP had won 21 of the total 60 seats and came to power for the first time with support from four NPP MLAs, four Naga People’s Front (NPF) members, a single Trinamool Congress MLA and an independent member. This time though, the BJP won’t have that support as NPP and the NPF are contesting separately and their candidates are pitted against each other.
The NPP, which has been BJP’s ally in both Meghalaya and Manipur since 2017, has 38 candidates in contention, while the BJP has fielded candidates for all the 60 seats.
Congress, which lost power in Manipur after governing the state for 15 consecutive years, has already formed a Manipur Progressive Secular Alliance (MPSA) with four Left parties and Janata Dal-Secular. In 2017, they were the single largest party, which secured 28 seats.
A look at some of the key candidates:
CM N Biren Singh: Contesting from his traditional home seat, Heingang constituency of Imphal East, the ex-footballer and journalist, will be seeking a fifth term.
PWD Minister Thongam Biswajit Singh: He will be contesting from Thongju. Singh had joined the BJP in 2015 after a by-election.
Govindas Konthoujam Singh: A Congress turncoat, Singh switched to the BJP recently. He had served as the Manipur Congress chief. This time, he will contest from Bishenpur.
Nishikant Singh Sapam: After his exclusion from the BJP’s list of candidates in the Keishamthong constituency, Sapam will fight as an independent candidate. He is a popular figure in the state and the founder of the state’s leading English daily.
Sapam Kangleipal: An independent candidate from the Lamlai constituency, Kangleipal was dropped from NPP’s list of candidates after the 40-year-old was found to have 24 cases lodged against him, including some under the National Security Act (NSA). None of the charges has, however, been proved yet.
Congress State chief Nameirakpam Loken Singh: Seeking re-election from the Nambol constituency, he is confident that Congress will be back to power, bagging 32 seats.
Thounaojam Brinda: A candidate for JDU from Yasikul, Brinda is a decorated former police officer from the 2012 batch of the Manipur Public Service Commission cadre. She is up against Manipur’s law minister BJP’s Thokchom Satyabrata Singh.
The second phase will see 22 seats going to the polls and it will take place on March 5. The counting of votes will take place on March 10.
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