Manipur ready for battle of ballots amid tight security

Imphal: Tight security arrangements have been put in place for the first of the two-phased Lok Sabha elections in strife-torn Manipur, officials said on Thursday.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. Voting will be held in the remaining 13 segments of Outer Manipur in the second phase on April 26.A total of six candidates, including state education minister Thounaojam Basanta Kumar Singh of the BJP and Angomcha Bimol Akoijam of the Congress, are contesting the Inner Manipur seat.Republican Party of India (RPI) has nominated Thounaojam Maheshwar, while there are three other Independent candidates.Voting will commence at 7 am and is likely to continue till 4 pm.A total of 9.91 lakh voters are eligible to exercise their franchise in Inner Manipur, with the highest concentration of 3.81 lakh in Imphal West district, district election officer Th Kirankumar said.Voting will be held in 1,319 polling stations in Inner Manipur, in addition to 29 special polling stations set up for people displaced due to the ethnic strife, he said.A total of 70 polling stations have been identified as either vulnerable or critical in Imphal West district and adequate security arrangements, including the deployment of central armed police forces, have been made, the DEO said.Outer Manipur, which is reserved for scheduled tribes, will witness a four-cornered contest between Naga People’s Front’s K Timothy Zimik, Congress’ Alfred Kanngam Arthur and independent candidates Kho John and Alyson Abonmai, with all the candidates being Nagas. PTI

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