Over 12 lakh voters will seal the fate of 173 candidates, including 15 women, in the first phase of the 12th Manipur assembly elections to be held on Monday across 38 constituencies. Voting will take place from 7 am to 4 pm.
Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Manipur Rajesh Agrawal said all the polling personnel numbering 6,884 reached their respective destinations on Monday.
As many as 12,09,439 voters, including 5,80,607 males, 6,28,657 females and 175 transgender are expected to exercise their franchise across 1,721 polling stations.
Of the 38 constituencies, 10 are in Imphal East, 13 in Imphal West, six in Bishnupur, six in Churachandpur and three in Kangpokpi district.
There are a total of 10,041 PwD electors and 251 Centenarian voters in these 38 Assembly constituencies.
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As many as 381 polling stations will be completely manned by women polling personnel. For the first time, four constituencies namely Singjamei, Yaiskul, Wangkhei and Churachandpur will be manned by all women polling teams, including the security and one polling station in Saikot will be manned completely by PwD polling personnel.
Since the Election Commission of India has discontinued photo voter slip as an identity proof with effect from February 28, 2019, voters are required to produce one of the 12 identity documents approved by the commission, Manipur CEO Rajesh Agrawal said on Sunday.
The documents include EPIC card, Aadhaar Card, MNREGA Job Card, Passbooks with photograph issued by Bank/Post Office, Health Insurance Smart Card issued under the scheme of Ministry of Labour, Driving License, PAN Card, Smart Card issued by RGI under NPR, Indian Passport, Pension document with photograph, Service Identity Cards with photograph issued to employees by Central/State government/PSUs/Public Limited Companies and official identity cards issued to MPs/MLAs/MLCs. Only voter slip will be allowed as an ID proof, the CEO added.
He informed that voters who are COVID-19 positive or are under quarantine will be allowed to vote at the last hour between 3-4 pm.
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Regarding the Congress party's appeal, Agrawal said that the appeal has been noted and keeping that in view the commission already instructed Deputy Commissioners (DCs) and special concerns to see to that adequate area domination and confident measures to be taken up so there are no intimidation and people should come out and vote in a free will without fear.
A total of 173 candidates, including 15 females, are in fray for the poll scheduled for the first phase. Out of 173 candidates, 39 candidates have criminal antecedents. The party wise number of candidates is - BJP-38, CPI-1, INC-35, NCP-6, NPP-27, JD(U)-28, LJP (Ram Vilas)-3, RPI(Athawale)-6, Shiv Sena-7, Kuki National Assembly-2, Kuki People’s Alliance-2 and Independent-18.
He said an arrangement for webcasting/videography has been made in all polling stations. Adequate CAPF have been deployed in all polling stations and in addition, micro-observers have been deployed in all critical polling stations.
The CEO further stated that to ensure COVID safe election, adequate arrangements have been made in all polling stations. All polling stations have been sanitised and ASHA and Anganwadi workers have been engaged. Marking of circles with minimum distance has been done to avoid crowding. Besides, masks, gloves, face shield, thermal scanners, PPE kit etc. have been provided to polling parties, he added.
On the accessibility front, provision for pick up/drop facilities for PWD and aged electors are made available with wheelchair facilities. Besides, two volunteers have been engaged in each polling station to assist voters. Voter Assistance Booths have also been set up in all polling stations.
Postal Ballots for service electors will be received till March 10, 2022. Total 13,274 postal ballots for service electors electronically issued and 559 have been received till date. A total of 13,067 voters on election duty have applied for postal ballot, while 2,419 PBs received at the facilitation centre, the rest have been sent to the voters by post at their addresses. Further, 906 postal ballots have been cast by PWD voters and 4,968 votes have been cast by 80+ voters in the absentee voter category. For Essential services, 15 postal ballots were issued and all PBs received.
The movement of EVMs are being tracked with the help of e-Traccar App which is embedded in the mobile phones of polling personnel and Sector Officers. Besides, a polling personnel will be able to report any sort of EVM malfunctioning or any untoward incident happening in the polling station. This will enable the Returning Officer to take immediate corrective actions. Booth App shall also be used to report two hourly reports of voter turnout by the polling team. Control Rooms have been set up in all offices of Returning Officers, District Election Officers and Chief Electoral Officer, Manipur. Among one of the initiatives, a voter will also be able to know the queue waiting time in the polling station with the help of voter facilitator app which is available for download in google play store.
Agrawal said that in order to ensure free, fair and smooth elections, certain restrictions have been imposed on poll day in the polling station premises. He said that to provide free conveyance to voters to and from the polling stations by a candidate/his agent is a corrupt practice and strictly forbidden.
He informed that as provided in Section 130 of Representation of the People Act, 1951, canvassing within a polling station or any public or private place within a distance of 100 meters of a polling station is strictly prohibited. Cellular phones, cordless phones etc., are not allowed except officers on duty in the 100 meters of a polling station. Besides, no campaign related posters or banners within 100 meters of the Polling Booth are allowed. Use of loudspeakers within 100 metre PS is also strictly prohibited. Candidates are not allowed to set up booths within 200 metres of the polling booth.
The CEO, Manipur appealed to all electors to come out and exercise their franchise fearlessly and out of free will on the poll day. Adequate Security arrangements have been made with deployment of Central Paramilitary force at all polling stations. In addition, there will be effective patrolling and area domination by CAPF and Manipur Police, in all the 38 constituencies throughout the day, for confidence building and to enable people to come out and vote in a peaceful setting.
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In connection with one candidate shot at, the CEO Manipur said that all candidates have been provided with security. And according to information, the candidate who got shot was with his escort team. However, the incident that took place is very unfortunate and it's completely deplorable but police have taken cognizance of it and an FIR has been registered and culprits are being identified so that they can be nabbed as soon as possible, the CEO said.
The CEO wished for his early recovery and hoped things will fall in place.
