Manipur Assembly election: over 9% voter turnout till 9 am, polling underway in 38 seats

Imphal (Manipur, India): The first phase of polling for the Manipur Assembly election began on Monday, February 28, with almost 9.9 per cent polling taking place till 9 am.

Kangpokpi district witnessed the highest turnout of 13.3 per cent while the lowest turnout has been reported from Churachandpur.

The polling commenced at 7 am and will continue till 4 pm. 

A total of 12,09,439 voters including 5,80,607 male, 6,28,657 female and 175 transgender voters are expected to exercise their franchise across 1,721 polling stations

In the first of the two-phased election, polling is underway in 38 assembly constituencies of the state.

Of the 38 assembly seats, 29 are in valley districts of Imphal East, Imphal West, and Bishnupur, while nine seats are spread across Churchandpur, Kangpokpi, and Pherzawl.

In the first phase, a total of 173 candidates are in the fray, including 15 women. 

Among the key candidates are a chief minister and BJP candidate from Heingang N Biren Singh, his cabinet colleague Thongam Biswajit Singh, speaker Y Khemchand Singh from Singjamei, deputy CM and NPP candidate Yumnam Joykumar from Uripok, and Manipur Congress president N Lokesh Singh from Nambol. (With agency inputs)