Violence mars first phase of Manipur assembly elections, 27.34 pc turnout recorded till 11 AM

Of the 38 seats, 10 constituencies are in Imphal East, 13 in Imphal West, six each in Bishnupur and Churachandpur, and three in Kangpokpi district. Nine seats are reserved for Scheduled Tribes and one for Scheduled Castes.

All-women personnel are conducting voting in 381 polling stations. PWD personnel are manning a polling station in Saikot assembly seat in Churachandpur.

The BJP has fielded candidates in all the 38 seats, followed by Congress with 35 contestants, NPP with 27, JD (U) with 28, Shiv Sena with seven, RPI (Athawale) with six, LJP (Ram Vilas) with three, and Kuki National Assembly and Kuki People's Alliance with two each. Eighteen Independents are also in the fray.

Chief Electoral Officer Rajesh Agarwal has said that out of the total 173 candidates, 39 have criminal antecedents.

Hours before the assembly polls got underway, Congress had on Sunday night expelled its candidate in Wangoi constituency, Salam Joy Singh, from the primary membership of the party with immediate effect on disciplinary grounds.

The BJP had 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).

However, the saffron party is contesting all the seats alone this time.

The Congress has formed an alliance with CPI, CPI(M), Forward Bloc, RSP and Janata Dal (Secular).

The grand old party had emerged as the single largest party winning 28 of the 60 seats in the 2017 state polls.

The voting for the remaining 22 seats in the 60-member House will take place in the second phase on March 5 while the counting of votes will be held on March 10.

All polling stations have been sanitised and circles have been marked outside the polling booths to enable the voters to maintain social distancing while they stand in a queue.

Wearing masks, using hand sanitiser and conducting thermal screening are among the other Covid protocols to be carried out at the polling booths.

Polling will end at 4 PM and COVID-19 patients can vote between 3 PM and 4 PM.