In Manipur, a state torn apart by ethnic conflict between the Meiteis and the Kukis in the last 13 months, the Congress is leading by big margins in both Lok Sabha seats — Inner Manipur and Outer Manipur.
At 4:40 pm, Congress candidate Angomcha Bimol Akoijam is leading by over one lakh votes in Inner Manipur over his nearest rival Thounaojam Basantakumar of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The incumbent here is the BJP's Rajkumar Ranjan Singh.
Inner Manipur saw widespread booth capturing and gun violence on 19 April during the first phase of voting, extensively reported by The Quint here.
In Outer Manipur, the Congress party's Alfred Kanngam is leading by over 70,000 votes against the Naga People's Front (NPF) Kachui Timothy Zimik. The NPF is allied to the BJP. The other candidates in the fray are Alyson Abonmei and S Kho John, both independents. The incumbent here was Dr Lorho S Pfoze of the NPF.
The Outer Manipur seat is reserved for scheduled tribes. All four candidates are from the Naga community. That is because no Kuki-Zo candidate filed a nomination given that many groups within the community had called for a boycott of the election.
The BJP and the National Democratic Alliance's (NDA's) impending defeat in both seats is reflective of the widespread public anger against Chief Minister N Biren Singh and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for failing to curb the year-long violence between the Meiteis and the Kukis.
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