Hiyanglam By-poll: Fate of 5 candidates sealed
Source: Hueiyen News Service / NNN

Imphal, October 17 2014 : The by-election to 38-Hiyanglam Assembly Constituency, which was necessitated following the demise of the sitting MLA Maibam Kunjo, went on peacefully today with a record voters' turnout of 90.99 percent.

Counting of votes will take place on October 20 .

The election was largely peaceful except for some minor scuffles at some polling stations.

Notably, the polling at 38/13 Lamjao Primary School continued till 5.30 pm.

Out of the total 24492 voters inclusive of 11953 male voters and 12539 female voters, about 90.99 percent voters cast their votes.

The turnout of voters was somewhat low till noon.

However, large number of voters came out to cast their votes at the late hours.

A strong team of 10 armed central paramilitary personnel along with five unarmed male and female personnel of Manipur Police was deployed in each of the 34 polling stations of Hiyanglam A/C.

Hiyanglam By-poll: Fate of 5 candidates sealed

Several mobile security teams also monitored all polling stations closely to prevent any untoward incident during the poll.

Talking to media persons during the election, some voters said that three candidates, namely late Kunjo's son Maibam Dhanabir (BJP), Elangbam Dwijamani (INC) and Dr Radheshyam (AITC) are in keen contest for the by-poll.

They were reportedly offered Rs.1000 to 3000 by the candidates for the election.

According to Newmai News Network, the voter turnout in Hiyanglam by-poll has been recorded as 94 percent.

BJP candidate Maibam Dhanabir told NNN that polling in the Hiyanglam by-election was peaceful and he was confident of winning the seat.

BJP general secretary M Aswinikumar said the Hiyanglam by-election will be a verdict against Congress which is a corrupt party.

Manipur Pradesh Trinamool Congress Committee (MPTCC) nominee Dr Y Radheshyam was also hopeful of winning the by-election.

On the other hand, MPP candidate M Amutombi told Newmai News Network that the national parties like the INC and BJP distributed cash for votes during the polling.

He alleged that the two parties had distributed up to Rs 5000 to each voter.

He accused the election observers of keeping silent over the cash distribution.

Amutombi expressed unhappiness over the alleged money power and muscle power used by the national parties during the by-election and said he had lost trust and confidence in the electorate of the constituency following the vote buying.

Congress candidate E Dwijamani said he was hopeful of winning the seat and added that his party could still spring a surprise this time around.

However, Manipur State Congress Party (MSCP) candidate Th Laiba was not available for comments.