IT News
Imphal, Jan 8:
The Election Commission of India on Saturday declared the Manipur Assembly elections 2022 schedule, announcing voting in two phases with the first on February 27 and the second on March 3.
The ECI while taking seriously the pre-poll violence in the state of Manipur has said that the Commission has discussed the issue with the Chief Secy. and the DGP of the state and all measures to ensure free and fair election has been taken up.
“We had discussed with DGP, they appraised about the situation, EC is taking all steps to avoid such incident, so we have given two phases of election in the state -we will ensure that such type of incidents won’t happen”, CEC Sushil Chandra said.
The Manipur election results in 2022 will be declared when the counting of votes in Manipur takes place on March 10 along with four other poll-bound states – Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, and Goa. The term of the current Manipur Assembly ends on March 19.
With the announcement of the Assembly elections schedule, the Model Code of Conduct has come into force across Manipur, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, and Goa. The EC said elections will be completed in seven phases for the five states.
This is the second tranche of state elections to be held in India since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. West Bengal, Assam, Kerala, Puducherry and Tamil Nadu had voted during the second coronavirus wave in March-April 2020. This time too, Omicron-triggered third Covid-19 wave has forced political parties to alter plans for election rallies.
Chief election commissioner Sushil Chandra said political parties and candidates are advised to conduct campaigns through digital mode, while free time on Doordarshan has been doubled for political parties in view of Covid-19. The ECI has canceled roadshows, padyatras and rallies by candidates till January 15.
The Manipur Assembly has a total of 60 seats, with 31 being the majority mark. While there are 40 constituencies in the valley region, there are 20 in the hill region.
