Did violence cost BJP Lok Sabha polls in Manipur? Here's what results say

The Congress expressed confidence in winning both seats, blaming the ruling BJP-led government for failing to curb the year-long ethnic violence between the Kukis and Meiteis

In violence-hit Manipur, a three-layer security cordon was enforced at the counting centres on Tuesday as the Lok Sabha election results were being decided.

Manipur has two Lok Sabha constituencies: Inner Manipur and Outer Manipur, both of which the Congress has won, the Election Commission's website showed. The party won the inner constituency by a margin of 109,801 and the outer by over 85,000 votes.

The Congress candidates on both the seats were Angomcha Bimol Akoijam (inner) and Alfred Kanngam Arthur (outer). In this ongoing Lok Sabha polls, the Bharatiya Janata Party fought in a bid to retain the inner seat and decided to extend its support to the Naga People’s Front (NPF) candidate for the Outer Manipur Lok Sabha seat, which the regional player had won in 2019. This seat is reserved for the Scheduled Tribes

“Counting of votes will be taken up at 24 counting centres in 11 district headquarters,” the election body has said.

The Congress has expressed confidence in winning both seats, blaming the BJP government, both at the Centre and in the state, for failing to curb the year-long ethnic violence between the Kukis and Meiteis, which has resulted in more than 200 deaths.

JNU professor-turned-Congress leader Angomcha Bimol Akoijam and Alfred K. Arthur are contesting the two seats against BJP’s Basanta Kumar Singh and NPF’s Timothy Zimik, a former IRS officer, respectively.

In Manipur, special provisions were made for internally displaced voters, including 94 special polling stations in 10 districts and one special polling station in Tengnoupal district for a single voter. No major incidents of violence were reported during the polling process, the Election Commission said. Voter turnout in Inner Manipur was 71.96 per cent, while outer Manipur saw a turnout of 51.72 per cent.

In view of the violence that began in May last year, the state governor, Anusuiya Uikey, said in February that 198 companies of central armed police forces and 140 army columns have been deployed along with state forces to maintain law and order in Manipur.