In the General Elections 2024, one Parliamentary constituency will have the distinction of going to the polls twice.
When the Election Commission announced the dates for the General Election on March 16, it was noticed that the number of constituencies added up to 544 instead of tallying with the 543 Lok Sabha seats. However, this did not mean that any new constituency had been added. Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar explained that this was due to the special situation in the Outer Manipur constituency.
General election 2024 full schedule
Elections for 543 Lok Sabha constituencies will be held in seven phases from April 19 to June 1. While every constituency gets to choose its Member of Parliament on a single given day, Outer Manipur constituency alone will have elections on two days. This is done taking into consideration the recent ethnic violence in the north-eastern State.
While Inner Manipur will be voting on April 19, outer Manipur will vote on two dates: April 19 and April 26.
The districts of Churachandpur, and Chandel are part of the phase 1 polling. It may be recalled that both the districts witnessed violence between Kukis and Meiteis.
Polling will be held on April 19 for the 15 Assembly segments falling under Outer Manipur parliamentary constituency. This includes Heirok, Wangjing Tentha, Khangabok, Wabgai, Kakching, Hiyanglam, Sugnoo, Chandel (ST), Saikul (ST), Kangpokpi, Saitu (ST), Henglep (ST), Churachandpur (ST), Saikot (ST), and Singhat (ST).
The remaining 13 Assembly segments under Outer Manipur will go to polls on April 26. These are Jiribam, Tengnoupal (ST), Phungyar (ST), Ukhrul (ST), Chingai (ST), Karong (ST), Mao (ST), Tadubi (ST), Tamei (ST), Tamenglong (ST), Nungba (ST), Tipaimukh (ST), and Thanlon (ST).
The Election Commission has notified a scheme to allow the internally displaced voters to vote from the the camp they are living at present, Mr. Kumar told the media while presenting the election schedule. A similar scheme is already available for the IDPs of Jammu and Kashmir. It will be available in Manipur as well, he added.
A press note from the Commission elaborated: “The Commission has reviewed the ground situation of Manipur and has noted that a large number of electors registered in different constituencies of Manipur were displaced from their native places during recent conflicts. They are now residing in Relief Camps in various districts of Manipur. The Commission, after due consultation with various stake holders, has decided that special polling stations shall be set up at/near the camps where such electors, who opt for such facility, will be able to register their votes in EVMs. In this regard, a detail scheme for internally displaced persons of Manipur to vote in relief camps has been issued by the Commission on 29th February, 2024.”
Here is a map that shows district-wise break up of polling date in Manipur.
