Manipur Assembly Election Phase 2: Two killed in poll violence in Senapati and Thoubal districts; 76% turnout recorded

Manipur recorded 76.04 per cent voter turnout on Saturday in the final phase of Assembly election across 22 constituencies, amid stray incidents of violence which led to the death of two people during altercations in Thoubal and Senapati districts. A tribal was gunned down and another seriously injured when security personnel allegedly opened fire at a school in the Karong constituency in Senapati.

Polling percentage update as of 5 pm.#ECI #ElectionCommissionOfIndia #CEOManipur #SVEEP #ManipurVotes2022 #CovidSafeElections #ManipurElection2022 #ManipurElectionPhase2 pic.twitter.com/WlWaPW19xk

— The CEO Manipur (@CeoManipur) March 5, 2022

Tribal gunned down in Karong polling station According to reports, an altercation broke out after some persons had snatched EVM machines from the polling station, resulting in police allegedly resorting to firing. One person, identified as K Longvao was killed in the incident while another person called V Saope was seriously injured. BJP candidate for Karong reported the incident to the election commission and claimed that the duo was shot at without “proper reason”. Election commission officials said they are waiting for a report from the district election officer. BJP worker allegedly killed by Congress supporter in Thoubal In a separate incident, a Congress worker allegedly gunned down a BJP worker in Thoubal hours before the polls began, PTI reported. L Amuba Singh, 25, succumbed to bullet injuries early on Saturday at a hospital in Imphal, a police officer said. Singh, along with other BJP activists, had gone to the residence of the Congress worker in the early hours in Thoubal district to tell him to stop campaigning as the stipulated time for it was over, the officer said. In Imphal West district, unidentified miscreants lobbed a crude bomb at the residence of expelled BJP leader Ch Bijoy in the Lamphel area on Friday night, police said. Nobody was injured in the blast triggered by two masked persons, who came in a two-wheeler, they said. Polling for the second and last phase of Assembly elections in Manipur began at 7 am in 22 constituencies across six districts amid tight security and strict adherence to COVID-19 protocol. A total of 8.38 lakh voters were eligible to exercise their franchise in this phase. Ninety two candidates were in the fray in the second phase - 12 from the BJP, followed by Congress (18), National People’s Party (11),  10 each from Janata Dal (United) and Naga People’s Front. Congress to challenge EC in Supreme Court Veteran Congress leaders Jairam Ramesh On Saturday said that he was going to file a petition in the top court challenging the Election Commission decision which held that the payment of funds by the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Manipur government to the banned militant groups under Suspension of Operation didn’t violate the Model Code of Conduct. Manipur Chief Electoral Officer Rajesh Agarwal on Friday said that the state government had not violated the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) by releasing stipend to militant groups that have declared Suspension of Operations (SoO). Since the beneficiaries were already identified and approved before the announcement of election and enforcement of the MCC, there is no violation of MCC in connection with the Manipur assembly elections, a CEO release said. BJP goes solo, Congress forms six-party alliance The ruling BJP contested the state assembly’s all 60 seats alone. On the other hand, its main competitor Congress formed an alliance of six political parties called the Manipur Progressive Secular Alliance (MPSA). The coalition comprises Congress, Communist Party of India (CPI), Communist Party of India (Marxist), Forward Bloc, Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP), and Janata Dal (Secular). In the 2017 Manipur Assembly elections, Congress emerged as the single largest party winning 28 seats followed by the BJP which settled with 21 seats. The National People’s Party (NPP) and Naga People’s Front (NPF) bagged four seats each while the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) managed to secure only one constituency. BJP bagged 36.28 per cent vote share while Congress received 35.11 per cent of the total vote. Later, BJP stitched a coalition with the NPP, NPF and LJP to form the government under the chief ministership of Biren Singh. The results for the Manipur polls along with UP, Punjab, Goa and Uttarakhand will be announced on 10 March. With inputs from agencies Read all the Latest News , Trending News ,  Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.