Manipur Polls: Ex-CM Ibobi among 92 candidates in fray in the last phase

A total of 92 candidates including only two women are in the fray for the second and last phase of polling in the remaining 22 Assembly constituencies in Manipur to be conducted on Saturday.

A little over 8.38 lakh voters will exercise their franchise in 1,247 polling stations in six districts, Thoubal, Jiribam, Chandel, Ukhrul, Senapati and Tamenglong.

Former Chief Minister and veteran Congress leader, Okram Ibobi Singh, who served as CM three times in a row between 2002 and 2017 is the prominent face in the second phase of elections. Singh is contesting in Thoubal's seat.

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Eyes are on the seats in Thoubal district in the valley, which is believed to be a stronghold of Opposition Congress. The focus will also be on at least 11 constituencies in the hills in Ukhrul, Senapati and Tamenglong districts, where Nagas call the shot in every election. The fight in the hills will be between BJP and Naga People's Front (NPF), a partner of the BJP-led government in Manipur since 2017. The NPF has put up candidates in 10 seats and is eying to be the "kingmaker" information of the next government. In 2017, NPF and National People's Party (NPP) had won four seats each and helped BJP to form its first government in the state.

Although the issues concerning the identity of the indigenous communities and development took centre stage in the first phase of polling on February 28, Naga talks, AFSPA and the alleged disparity in developing between hills and the valley are likely to influence voting in the hills. BJP has highlighted development initiatives taken since 2017 to bridge the alleged disparity, Congress focussed on the issue of militancy and AFSPA in their campaign in the hills.

The first phase of polling in 38 out of 60 seats witnessed 88.63 per cent polling.

BJP is contesting in all 22 seats in the second phase while Congress has put up candidates in 18 seats. NPP and Janta Dal (United) of Nitish Kumar have fielded candidates in 11 and 10 seats respectively in the final phase.

Polling will be conducted between 7 am and 4 pm on Saturday.

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