Imphal (Manipur) [India], April 18 : Tight security arrangements have been put in place for the first phase of Lok Sabha elections in Manipur, which witnessed ethnic clashes last year.
The Inner Manipur Lok Sabha seat, which comprises 32 of the 60 assembly segments in the state, and 15 assembly segments of the Outer Manipur Lok Sabha seat will go to polls in the first phase on Friday. The voting will begin at 7 am.
A total of six candidates are in the fray in the Inner Manipur seat and four candidates in the Outer Manipur seat.
Over 9 lakh voters are eligible to exercise their franchise in Inner Manipur, which comprises 32 Assembly segments.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has nominated Thounaojam Basanta Kumar Singh as its candidate for the Inner Manipur Lok Sabha seat, while the Indian National Congress has fielded Angomcha Bimol Akoijam.
The Northeast state will poll in two phases, with Inner Manipur voting on April 19 and Outer Manipur in both phases, on April 19 (Phase 1) and 26 (Phase 2).
The voting for the remaining 13 segments of Outer Manipur will be held in the second phase on April 26.
Also, significantly, the Outer Manipur Lok Sabha constituency is reserved for the Scheduled Tribes (STs).
The Outer Manipur seat is currently being held by Naga People's Front (NPF) candidate Lorho S Phoze, who trounced the BJP's Shokhopao Mate by a margin of 73,782 votes in the 2019 elections.
A control room has been set up at the Chief Electoral Officer's office to monitor voting in Lok Sabha polls in Manipur.
""The way a control room has been set up in the CEO's office, similarly, control rooms have been set up at the offices of district election officers. We will be able to monitor all polling stations and EVMs from here. Using an app, any technical problems being faced by any polling station can be reported and detected. If there is any such incident, we can send technical teams immediately. Webcasting is being done for at least 50 per cent of the polling stations," Manipur Joint CEO Daulat Khan said.
Manipur, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Pradeep Jha said that the state will witness elections at 2107 polling stations, adding that adequate security has been deployed.
Speaking to ANI, the Manipur CEO said that with the deployment of polling parties already underway and sufficient security measures in place.
"Tomorrow, we are going to have elections for the Inner Manipur Parliamentary constituency as well as the 15 Assembly segments of the Outer Manipur Parliamentary constituency as well. So, put together, between the two parliamentary constituencies,. In the first phase, we are going to have elections for 2107 polling stations. 32 assembly segments in the inner and 15 for the outer. The dispersal of polling parties has already begun. Adequate security deployment is already in place. we have already identified the vulnerable as well as the critical polling stations," Pradeep Jha said.
Additionally, he highlighted that webcasting and videography will be conducted at nearly all polling stations to uphold the integrity of the electoral process and ensure a fair and transparent election.'
"We are also going to do webcasts and videography at almost all the polling stations. In addition to that, considering the law and order situation in the state and the prevailing situation because of the ongoing conflict, in the fringe areas of the valley and hills, adequate deployment has been done so that the situation on the day of the poll remains safe and secure and every voter feels confident to come out and cast his or her vote," he added.
Pradeep Jha said that for the the first phase of the elections, they have deployed 160 companies of paramilitary forces.
"Adequate arrangements have been made for polling day. In addition, we have understood the importance of the security of the strong room. So paramilitary forces have been deployed for the security and safety of the EVMs. The EVMs, which would be transported from the strong room locations to the polling stations, are being monitored with GPS tracking, so that we know where the machines are reaching the right pace or not. Adequate arrangements have been made. In the polling party's phone, we have installed a software to monitor the movement," he said.
The Deputy Commissioner of Imphal East District, Khumanthem Diana Devi, visited the station and took stock of the situation.
"This is one of the biggest relief camps in Imphal East district. It has a total of 396 internally displaced voters. So, for them arrangements have been made under the directions of the Election Commission of India and Manipur Chief Electoral Officer. Voting arrangements have been made at this particular place. Adequate security is also in place. There will also be micro-observers, observing the entire polling process in this particular special polling station. There are a total of 9 polling stations. Micro-observers have been deployed for each of them. CAPF is also being deployed for each of them," DC Imphal East told ANI.
Earlier today, a security briefing was conducted at the district election office in Imphal ahead of the first phase of Lok Sabha polls.
Imphal West Deputy Commissioner Th. Kirankumar said that the final briefing is on security has been completed.
"The final briefing is on security which we have completed. The team is completely prepared for a safe, free and fair election in all the sensitive as well as normal areas - where they should be deployed...In addition, the dispersal plan has been intimated to all the teams...We have received 70 critical and vulnerable polling stations. We have micro-observers at these polling stations, in addition to the normal security deployment. Most of them will be manned by the CAPF...In addition, there are 2-3 layers of security that we are placing in addition to the security personnel deployed at the polling stations," he added.
As has been widely reported, the state fell into waves of ethnic clashes after the majority Meiteis, who inhabit the valleys and plains, and the Kukis, who are settled in the upper reaches of the state, came into conflict over an order by the Manipur High Court, directing the state government to consider including the Meiteis to the list of STs.
This time, however, the NPF is going into the polls as a partner in the BJP-led NDA. The BJP, earlier, announced its support for the NPF candidate for Outer Manipur, Kachui Timothy Zimik.
Interestingly, the NPF, this time, decided against letting the sitting MP seek a fresh term in the Lok Sabha. Zimik is up against Congress MLA Alfred K Arthur, who is the joint opposition candidate of the INDIA bloc.
Voting for the first phase of Lok Sabha elections will take place on April 19 in 102 constituencies across 21 states and Union Territories.
The following states and Union Territories will be conducting Phase 1 of voting: Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Jammu and Kashmir, Lakshadweep, and Puducherry.
The Lok Sabha elections will be held on April 19, April 26, May 7, May 13, May 20, May 25, and June 1. Vote counting will take place on June 4.