New Delhi: The Election Commission has revised election dates for Manipur, ANI reported. Elections to 60-member Manipur Legislative Assembly will be held in two phases.
Voting for the first phase of election will now take place on February 28 instead of February 27. The second phase of voting will happen on March 5 instead of March 3. Results will be declared on March 10 along with four other states.
In a statement, EC said the decision was based on inputs, representations, past precedent, logistics, ground situations and "all facts and circumstances in the matter".
Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sushil Chandra and his team arrived in Manipur earlier this week on a two-day visit to review the poll preparation.
Election Commission officials interacted with the representatives of national and state recognised political parties, District Election Officers, Superintendents of Police and other officials, IANS reported.
The BJP came to power in Manipur for the first time in 2017. Even though Congress emerged as the single largest party with 28 seats, BJP formed the government with support from NPP, NPF and Lok Janshakti Party (LJP).
This time, however, the BJP and its allies NPP and NPF are separately contesting the Assembly polls.
The Congress has, however, seen defection of several MLAs since then, including that of state party chief Govindas Konthoujam in August last year. Govindas Konthoujam, a former minister and six-time Congress MLA from Bishnupur, later joined the BJP.
Assam Chief Minister and BJP's top strategist for north-east Himanta Biswa Sarma has exuded confidence that the saffron party on its own would form the government in Manipur and would not require any support from any party.