Lamphelpat (Manipur):A voter turnout of 48.88 per cent was recorded till 1 am for the first phase of Manipur elections, the Election Commission of India informed on Monday. Kangpokpi district reported the highest voter turnout of 61.30 per cent followed by Imphal West with 52.15 per cent. Other districts, namely, Bishnupur reported a voter turnout of 50.48 per cent, Imphal East 46.11 per cent and Churachandpur 40.37 per cent. LIVE UPDATES # Nearly 50 pc voting registered till 1 am # 27.34% voters turnout recorded till 11 am # 8.94 % voters turnout recorded till 9.30 am in the first phase Manipur Deputy CM and NPP candidate from Uripok, Yumnam Joykumar Singh cast his vote in Naoremthong Upper Primary School in Imphal#ManipurElections2022 pic.twitter.com/9lZHIGPQdW — ANI (@ANI) February 28, 2022 First phase Assembly elections underway in Manipur. Visuals from Tamphasana Girls' Higher Secondary School in Imphal pic.twitter.com/xu6yI4q6iD — ANI (@ANI) February 28, 2022 Manipur Governor La Ganesan votes at Tamphasana Girls' Higher Secondary School in Imphal He says, "I appeal to all people of Manipur that they should exercise their franchise because in our country democracy is prevailing & sign of democracy is election."#ManipurElections2022 pic.twitter.com/pXQkALurcy — ANI (@ANI) February 28, 2022 CM and BJP candidate from Heingang, N Biren Singh casts his vote at Shrivan High School in Imphal. He says, "I'm expecting that 75% people of my constituency will vote for BJP & me. BJP is expecting at least 30 out of 38 seats in the first phase. People of Manipur like PM Modi" pic.twitter.com/dgr5SxGxuj — ANI (@ANI) February 28, 2022 Imphal | CM and BJP candidate from Heingang, N Biren Singh arrives at Shrivan High School in Imphal to vote. He says, "I request people of my constituency along with other voters to cast their valuable votes & use democratic power given by Constitution."#ManipurElections2022 pic.twitter.com/frFpok2WZS — ANI (@ANI) February 28, 2022 Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh is contesting from his traditional home seat, Heingang constituency of Imphal East. Notably, the Chief Minister is seeking the fifth term in Manipur. PWD Minister Thongam Biswajit Singh who had joined the BJP in 2015 is contesting polls from the Thongju Assembly seat, whereas Govindas Konthoujam Singh who recently joined BJP is fighting from the Bishenpur constituency. The BJP 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, this time the BJP decided to go solo and is contesting all 60 seats alone. On the other hand, Congress has formed an alliance of 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). 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 leadership of Biren Singh. The high-octane poll campaigning in Manipur came to an end on Saturday. Elections for the 60-member Manipur Assembly are taking place in two phases, that is, February 28 and March 5. As many as 38 seats will go to the polls in the first phase while voting in 22 constituencies will take place in the second phase.
