The 17th Lok Sabha elections in Manipur were held in two phases on April 11 and 23, 2019, for the two seats of Outer Manipur and Inner Manipur. Thangso Baite of the Indian National Congress (INC) is the sitting MP of the Outer Manipur seat, while Thokchom Meinya of INC is the sitting MP of the Inner Manipur seat. In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Baite had beat his nearest rival Naga People’s Front’s Soso Lorho by a margin of 15,637 votes. Baite had secured 296,770 votes, while Lorho had bagged 281,121 votes. Meinya defeated his nearest rival CPI’s Moirangthem Nara by almost 1 lakh votes, the BJP’s RK Ranjan Singh polled 92,443 votes.
This year, a total of eight candidates are in the fray for the Outer Manipur seat. Congress has fielded K. James from the seat, while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has nominated Houlim Shokhopao Mate from the hill constituency. Candidates of five other parties and an Independent are also contesting from the seat. The candidates are Angam Karung Kom (Nationalist Congress Party), Thangminlien Kipgen (National People’s Party), Lorho S. Pfoze (Naga Peoples Front), Ashang Kasar (North East India Development Party), Hangkhanpau Taithul (Janata Dal-United) and Leikhan Kaipu (Independent).
Outer Manipur had recorded a voter turnout of 78.20 per cent in the first phase of voting on April 11. Outer Manipur Lok Sabha constituency comprises of 28 assembly segments. In 2009, Congress leader Thokchom Meinya had won the seat against his nearest rival Communist Party of India’s Moirangthem Nara.
The Inner Manipur Lok Sabha constituency went to polls in the second phase on April 18. The Inner Manipur constituency was created in 1951. A total of 11 candidates are in the fray from the Inner Manipur seat. Dr Thokchom Meinya of the Indian National Congress (INC) is the sitting MP from the Inner Manipur Lok Sabha seat. This year, the INC has fielded Oinam Nabakishore Singh, while BJP has nominated Dr Rajkumar Ranjan Singh from the seat. The other candidates are Moirangthem Nara Singh (Communist Party of India), R.K. Anand (North East India Development Party), Oinam Jugindro Singh (Manipur People’s Party), G. Tonsana Sharma (Manipur Democratic People’s Front), Senjam Nandeshwore Singh (Rashtriya Janhit Sangharsh Party), Iliyash khan (Independent), Rajkumar Somendro Singh (Independent), Totomshana Nongshaba (Independent) and Wahengbam Pabitra Singh (Independent). The results of the seven-phased 2019 Lok Sabha elections will be declared on May 23.
