The only visible hint of the impending election is the hoardings put up by local election authorities, urging citizens to exercise their franchise.
Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress, never before a force to reckon with in Manipur, has won seven seats, overtaking established political forces like the Manipur People's Party. If Chief Minister Ibobi Singh is not successful in tackling the woes of the hard-working Manipuris, the state may abandon the Congress, says Nitin Gokhale.
Three decades after it was imposed in Manipur to deal with insurgents, the controversial Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) is still an issue used by parties during electioneering for the January 28 assembly poll in the state.
The opposition People's Democratic Front made up of Manipur's People Party (MPP), Nationalist Congress Party, CPI-Marxist and Janata Dal-United expect to garner at least 29 out of the 60 assembly seats, two short of majority, and then hopes to call up the support from BJP and CPI with whom NPP and NCP have arrived at separate understandings.
Rediff Labs analysed the 2012 Manipur assembly election results and merged it with the 2014 Lok sabha election result to develop a Sentiment Meter for the 2017 electoral battle.
The Nationalist Congress Party would not ally with the Congress in the north-east for the Lok Sabha polls, its senior leader Purno Agitok Sangma said in Shillong on Monday.
The ruling party along with its alliance partner CPI notched up 22 seats of the 58 results declared so far.
In more than a dozen assembly constituencies, the Muslim community, locally known as 'Pangal' or 'Meitei Pangal', can swing results.
Modi's NDA is good enough to give a psychological boost to the once 'untouchable' BJP and Modi but if the NDA doesn't get a majority on its own, then walking the last mile will be the greatest challenge of this election for Modi, says Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com
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