Manipur: 15.49% voter turnout recorded till 9 am

Imphal: A voter turnout of 15.49 per cent was recorded till 9 am on Friday as polling was underway in the remaining parts of the Outer Manipur Lok Sabha constituency amid tight security, officials said.

Voting was underway at 857 polling stations, spanning 13 assembly segments in eight districts, they said.

In the first two hours, the Tipaimukh assembly segment in the Pherzawl district recorded the highest turnout at 19.80 per cent, while the Jiribam assembly segment recorded the lowest at 8.62 per cent.

Fifteen assembly segments of the Outer Manipur Lok Sabha constituency went to the polls in the first phase on April 19 along with the whole of the Inner Manipur seat.

Four candidates are in the fray in Outer Manipur -- NPF's K Timothy Zimik, Congress's Alfred Kanngam Arthur, and Independents S Kho John and Alyson Abonmai. The BJP has not fielded any candidate and is backing its ally, the NPF.

Over 4.84 lakh people are eligible to vote in this phase.

Security measures have been significantly enhanced across all 13 assembly segments where polling was underway, with 87 companies of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) and 4,000 state police personnel deployed to ensure free and fair elections.