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| Edited By: DNA Web Team |Source: ANI |Updated: Mar 10, 2022, 07:56 AM IST
Riding on their poll plank of development and improved connectivity in the state in the last five years, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will try to retain the power in Manipur while the Congress-led alliance is seeking to wrest the state from the BJP and is hoping for a favourable verdict as the countdown begins for the counting of votes polled in the 2022 Assembly elections.
Days ahead of the counting on March 10, the exit polls in Manipur gave a clear edge to the ruling BJP followed by Congress, a distant second.
Elections for the 60-member Manipur Assembly took take place in two phases on February 28 and March 5. Ahead of the counting, proper security measures have been undertaken including the imposition of Section 144 CrPC around the counting centres to ensure that peace and tranquillity are not disturbed and counting of votes is conducted smoothly, the Chief Electoral Officer, Manipur informed.
The BJP, which formed the government in Manipur in 2017 with the support of the National People's Party (NPP), Naga People's Front (NPF), and the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), this time, has decided to go solo and is contesting all 60 seats alone.
On the other hand, Congress has allied with six political parties and named it Manipur Progressive Secular Alliance (MPSA). The coalition partners in MPSA include Congress, Communist Party of India (CPI), Communist Party of India (Marxist), Forward Bloc, Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP), and Janata Dal (Secular).
BJP Manipur President Adhikarimayum Sharda Devi exuded confidence over her party's victory in the state polls. She said that BJP has set a target of bagging more than 40 seats out of a total of 60 constituencies in Manipur.
Meanwhile, Congress general secretary Mukul Wasnik said that people's verdict will be in favor of the Congress in Manipur.
Among the key contestants, Chief Minister N Biren Singh is in the fray from the Heingang seat while Congress leader and former Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh is testing his luck from Thoubal. Others include PWD Minister Th Biswajit Singh who is in the fray from Thongju; Govindas Konthoujam Singh, former Manipur Congress chief, who recently joined the BJP, from Bishenpur; Education Minister S Rajen from Lamshang, Agriculture Minister O Lukhoi from Wangoi.
The BJP has fielded former national football player Somatai Shaiza from the Ukhrul seat.
As per the Manipur Chief Electoral Officer's website, over 20 lakh (20,91,398) voters were eligible to exercise their franchise. The voting percentage was recorded at 88.69 percent in the first phase of elections while in the second phase, it was 90.09 percent.
