Phase-II LS polls campaigning ends in three NE states; 50 in fray for 5 Assam seats

[caption id="attachment_244189" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Former Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi beats a traditional Assamese ‘dhol’ during an election rally for Lok Sabha polls in Nagaon on Tuesday.[/caption] Imphal, April 16 (IANS): Campaigning ended at 4 p.m. on Tuesday for the Inner Manipur constituency, which goes to the polls on April 18. The BJP and the Opposition Congress are the major players in the multi-cornered poll battle in Inner Manipur. Polling for the Outer Manipur constituency, reserved for the tribals, was held on April 11 and recorded over 82 per cent voting. Chief Minister N. Biren has demanded repolling in 196 polling stations in Outer Manipur alleging rampant proxy voting. However, Returning Officer H. Rosita has recommended repolling in only 19 polling stations. Chief Electoral Officer P.K. Singh said that police and central forces deployed in the Outer constituency will be redeployed in the Inner constituency. “Police are conducting cordon and search operations across Imphal to round up insurgents. There will be no law and order problem during the April 18 polls,” he said. Singh also assured that there will be no repeat of the April 11 incident, when reporters with EC authorised letters were not allowed to enter the polling booths in Tengnoupal and Kangpokpi districts. Assam: Campaigning for the second phase of the Lok Sabha polls came to an end in Assam on Tuesday. Silchar, Karimganj, Nowgong, Mangaldai and Autonomous District (Diphu) constituencies are going to the polls in the second phase on April 18 which will be held across 8,992 polling stations set up in these constituencies. A total of 69,10,592 voters including 33,55,952 women and 180 belonging to the third gender are eligible to exercise their franchise. There are a total of 50 candidates including 18 Independents in the fray for the five Lok Sabha seats. While the BJP has fielded former legislator Kripanath Mallah in Karimganj constituency, the Congress has pitted Swarup Das against him. The AIUDF has fielded sitting Lok Sabha MP Radheshyam Biswas. The opposition Congress has given the party ticket to sitting MP Sushmita Dev in Silchar constituency in Barak Valley while the BJP has fielded Dr. Rajdeep Roy. Although there are 13 candidates in the fray for the Silchar seat, a straight battle is expected between the Congress and the BJP here. Although five candidates are in the fray in Autonomous District constituency, the main poll battle is expected between Congress veteran and seven-time Lok Sabha MP Biren Sing Engti and the BJP’s Horen Sing Bey. Bey is banking on the anti-incumbency factor against Engti, who will be seeking re-election for the eighth consecutive time from the constituency. In Mangaldai constituency, the BJP has fielded Dilip Saikia in place of sitting Lok Sabha MP Ramen Deka while the Congress has fielded Rajya Sabha MP and former President of the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee, Bhubneswar Kalita. The Nowgong Lok Sabha constituency on the other hand is likely to witness a straight battle of ballots between the BJP’s Rupak Sarmah and the Congress’ Pradyut Bordoloi. The BJP has replaced its sitting MP Rajen Gohain in the constituency who has been holding the seat since 1999. Agartala: Campaigning for the East Tripura Lok Sabha constituency, which will go to the poll in the second phase on April 18, ended at 5 pm on Tuesday, Tripura Chief Electoral Officer Sriram Taranikanti said. East Tripura constituency is spread across 30 assembly segments and six districts and altogether 10 candidates, including those of the ruling BJP, Congress and the CPI-M are in the fray for it. Ruling BJP candidate Rebati Mohan Tripura, sitting MP Jitendra Chowdhury of the CPI (M) and Pragya Dev Burman of the Congress are among those contesting from the seat. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress president Rahul Gandhi and CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechuri campaigned for the respective party candidates in the high voltage canvassing. Dhalai district superintendent of police Sudipta Das told PTI that sufficient security deployment was made to ensure free and fair polling on April 18. “We have put central and state armed forces and Tripura Police personnel on duty round-the-clock and CCTV cameras will be installed in polling stations. There will be sector officers from both civil and police administration apart from flying squads,” Das said. Additional central para military force personnel were sent to the constituency after the first phase of polls in West Tripura seat on April 11, he said. Returning officer of East Tripura, Vikas Singh said strict security arrangement would be maintained in the constituency. The BSF has intensified vigilance along the Indo-Bangladesh border which would be completely sealed much before the beginning of polling, he said adding security escorts for candidates have been enhanced and some more arrangements would be made on election day. Poll personnel will reach their destination by April 17 and polling will be held from 7 am till 5 pm on April 18. In an effort to reach out to the people, the BJP has promised pension scheme for farmers, National Registrar of Citizens (NRC) in the state, smart border fencing to stop illegal immigration, enactment of the Citizenship Amendment Bill and development of indigenous communities. Congress has formed an alliance with Indigenous Nationalist Party of Twipra (INPT) an indigenous regional party. They are contesting the poll with issues like scrapping of the Citizenship Amendment Bill, inclusion of Kokborok, the lingua franca of Tripura’s indigenous community in the 8th schedule and empowering Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous Territorial Council (TTAADC), which constitute two third of the state territory and is home to tribals, who forms one third of the state population. The Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura ( IPFT), which an ally of the ruling BJP, will contest the Lok Sabha polls alone and has fielded N C Debbarma, who is also state revenue minister, as its candidate in East constituency. Like in the assembly polls, the indigenous party kept up its demand for a separate Tipraland as its main poll plank for the Lok Sabha polls. The IPFT and BJP had together formed the government after bagging 44 out of 60 Assembly seats in 2018, ending a two-decade old Marxist era. The East Tripura seat had been won by Left candidates since 1952 except for two terms when late Maharaja Kirit Bikram Kishore won from the seat in 1989 and Bibhu Kumari Devi in 1991.