A voter at a polling booth in Manipur's Kamjong during the second phase of general elections. Photos: ECI
By Nava Thakuria*
Guwahati: Two phases of polling for 21 Lok Sabha seats in the Northeast passed almost peacefully with a higher percentage of voter turnout than the national average and even Nagaland, where six districts recorded zero voting, reported around 57 % polling.
Manipur was the only State in northeast India to witness electoral violence in the 1st phase of polling in and around Imphal. Many booths went for repolling and their final voter turnout reached around 75%. The voting in 2nd phase for the Outer Manipur seat went peacefully.
Contrary to Manipur, Mizoram witnessed very peaceful polling but with only over 55 % turnout. Zoram People’s Movement nominee Richard Vanlalhmangaiha has been challenged for the lone Lok Sabha seat by Mizo National Front candidate K. Vanlalvena, Congress contestant Lalbiakzama and BJP nominee Vanhlalmuaka.
Amidst relentless troubles for a year because of ethnic conflicts between Meiteis and Kukis, the polling in Manipur witnessed violence. The Inner Manipur constituency, which went to polls on April 19, recorded over 75% voter turnout. Here the Congress nominee Angomcha Bimol Akoijam is challenged by BJP candidate Thounaojam Basanta Kumar Singh. Some parts of the Outer Manipur seat also went to polls in the 1st phase and reported over 61 % turnout. Here Kachui Timothy Zimik (Naga People’s Front), who is supported by the BJP, faces Congress candidate Alfred Kanngam S Arthur.
Tripura, Meghalaya and Assam in the Northeast recorded impressive polling from 75 to over 80% in both phases. Voters of another state in the Northeast, Arunachal Pradesh successfully exercised their franchise to elect two MPs and 50 legislators with a turnout of around 67 %.
Mentionable is that in Assam, 10 BJP candidates including Chief Minister Pema Khandu and his deputy Chowna Mein had already won the race with no opposition candidates. Sikkim electorates also voted for 32 legislators along with one MP with more than 75 % turnout.
The ruling Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) put candidates in all ten Parliamentary seats from Assam in the last two phases.
As Assam now waits for polls in four Parliamentary constituencies during the third phase of voting scheduled for May 7, 2024, the saffron party in the third phase nominated only one candidate (Bijuli Kalita Medhi for Guwahati Lok Sabha constituency) and extended support to ally candidates namely Phani Bhusan Choudhury (Asom Gana Parishad) from Barpeta, Zabed Islam (AGP) from Dhubri and Jayanta Basumtary (United People’s Party Liberal) from Kokrajhar seat.
Former BJP leader Mira Barthakur Goswami (now in Congress) will put an electoral challenge to the saffron nominee along with other six candidates in Assam. In Barpeta, the AGP legislator will face Deep Bayan (Congress), Manoranjan Talukdar (a Communist Party-Marxist legislator) and others, whereas in Dhubri the AGP nominee will challenge sitting All India United Democratic Front leader Badruddin Ajmal, where Congress puts legislator Rakibul Hussain as its candidate in the westernmost constituency. The nomination of sitting Kokrajhar MP Naba Kumar Sarania was cancelled and now the UPPL nominee (a legislator) will primarily face electoral challenges from Garjan Mashhary (Congress) and Khampa Borgoyary (Bodoland People’s Front) in the Bodo-dominated constituency.
Altogether 94 Parliamentary seats belonging to 12 States and union territories will go to polls in the 3rd phase, where Gujarat electorates will vote for all 26 representatives to 18th Lok Sabha along with Karnataka (14 seats), Maharashtra (11 seats), Uttar Pradesh (10 seats), Madhya Pradesh (8 seats), Chhattisgarh (7 seats), Bihar (5 seats), West Bengal (4 seats), Goa (2 seats), Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu (2 seats) and Jammu & Kashmir (1 seat).
A total of 1,351 nominees belonging to national and regional political parties (including a few independent candidates) will seek electoral mandates in this phase, where the counting of votes will take place on 4 June (after four more phases of polling on May 13, 20, 25, and June 1, 2024) and the results of general elections are expected the same day.
The 1st (April 19, 2024) and 2nd (April 26) phases covered 102 and 89 Parliamentary constituencies respectively, where the Election Commission of India revealed the revised voter turnout as around 65 and 67 % accordingly.
*Senior journalist
