In a historic electoral mission, the inaugural wave of election officials’ teams, escorted by police personnel and electronic voting machines, was airlifted to the remote polling stations nestled in Manipur’s Pherzawl district on Tuesday, April 13. Situated at the crossroads of Assam, Mizoram, and Myanmar, Pherzawl district comprises two crucial assembly constituencies: Tipaimukh (Scheduled Tribes) and Thanlon (ST), boasting a collective electorate of 34,897. All 78 polling stations within these constituencies are poised to cast their ballots in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections, earmarked for the second phase of polling for the Outer Manipur Lok Sabha seat reserved for scheduled tribes, scheduled on April 26.
This impending electoral exercise marks a significant milestone for Pherzawl district, as it orchestrates its maiden election since its establishment on December 8, 2016, following its division from Churachandpur district in Manipur. The Pherzawl district election office kick-started operations by dispatching the initial cohort of polling teams from the Dispersal Centre at Peace Ground, Tuibong, on Tuesday. The teams entrusted with supervising 16 remote polling stations under the Tipaimukh assembly constituency, including Chingmun, Doltang, and Suangphumun, among others, were ferried via an Indian Air Force (IAF) chopper from the helipad of 36 Assam Rifles.
Notably, these polling stations are situated over 260 km away from the Dispersal Centre, grappling with the challenges of inadequate road connectivity. Concurrently, teams earmarked for Upper Kharkhuplien, Lungthulien, Kangreng, and 12 other distant polling stations embarked on their journeys by road. Prior to the deployment, the strong room at the DC Office complex was unsealed, and the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) were transferred to the dispersal center for distribution to the polling teams, under the vigilant oversight of District Election Officials and political party representatives. On Wednesday, the remaining polling teams for Thanlon and those designated for Tipaimukh in Manipur are slated to be dispatched via road.
Manipur’s electoral landscape encompasses 60 assembly constituencies, with 32 aligning with the Inner Manipur Parliamentary Constituency, which conducted elections simultaneously with the 15 Outer Manipur Parliamentary Constituencies on April 19, during the first phase. The remaining 13 Assembly segments of the Outer Manipur PC, including Tipaimukh and Thanlon, are poised for polling in the second phase on April 26, marking a pivotal juncture in the electoral discourse. The Outer Manipur PC anticipates a spirited four-cornered contest, featuring candidates representing the INC, NPF, as well as independent contenders.