Imphal:Over 50 percent voters cast their ballot till 2 p.m. Wednesday in the Outer Manipur Lok Sabha constituency, as polling was held for one of the two seats in the northeastern state, officials said.
Police and Election Commission officials said balloting took place peacefully in 1,406 polling stations in the tribal reserved constituency with no untoward incidents reported so far.
“Over 50 percent voters have so far cast their votes in Outer Manipur. No reports of any untoward incidents so far,” a poll panel official told reporters.
“Long queues of voters, dressed in traditional attire, were seen in most of the polling stations even before voting began at 7 a.m. Balloting will end at 4 p.m.”
Polling took place in all five hill districts of Ukhrul, Senapati, Chandel, Tamenglong and Churachandpur. Central security forces have been deployed in large numbers.
In all, 911,699 voters, including 463,068 women, will elect one member to the lower house of parliament from among 10 candidates, including one woman.
Voting in the Inner Manipur constituency will be held April 17.
The Congress has re-nominated sitting member Thangso Baite while the Bharatiya Janata Party has fielded Gangmumei Kamei, the Trinamool Congress Kim Gangte, and the Nationalist Congress Party has pitted Chungkhokai Doungel.
The 51-year-old Kim Gangte was the first woman Lok Sabha member from Manipur to be elected in 1998.
Repeal of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, and development are the major issues this year.
BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi and Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi addressed rallies in the state, once ravaged by the terrorism.