Manipur election: BJP names candidates for 60 seats, CM Biren Singh fielded from Heingang

As the Manipur Assembly Election inches closer, Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) on Sunday, January 30 announced candidates for all 60 Assembly seats in the state. Significantly, Chief Minister N Biren Singh has been fielded from the Heingang constituency. The state will undergo polls along with four states including Uttar Pradesh, Goa, Uttarakhand and Punjab.

The Central Election Committee of BJP announced names for the ensuing General Elections to the Legislative Assembly of Manipur:

After announcing the candidates list, Manipur CM Biren Singh took to Twitter to congratulate all candidates and thanked PM Narendra Modi for his support. He also assured PM Modi that BJP will retain power in the state.

Manipur Election Opinion Poll 2022 projects BJP to edge Congress

In the recent opinion poll conducted between January 23 and January 25, the BJP, similar to the previous poll, appeared to be ahead in the race for the assembly. The new data projects BJP bagging 29-35 seats out of the 60 total seats with a 39.0% voting percentage. BJP is followed by the Indian National Congress (INC) which is predicted to win 13-19 seats with a 28.8% voting percentage.

As per the survey results conducted by Republic TV in collaboration with P-Marq, the BJP is projected to stay ahead in the race as the poll depicts the party bagging the majority 31-37 seats out of 60 seats followed by the Indian National Congress winning 13-19 seats.

N Biren Singh confident about BJP's win

CM Biren Singh on January 23, Sunday was quoted saying that the Government will get double seats this year. 

While speaking to ANI, Biren Singh said, "Earlier we got 21 seats, this time we will get double of it. We are working hard for the two-thirds majority. CM post is decided by Central leaders and my duty is to ensure BJP wins. Chief Ministerial candidate is up to the Parliamentary board."

Manipur Election 2022

As per the Election Commission, the polls will be held in two phases in Manipur. The 60 constituencies in the state will be divided into two sets, one for each phase. The date of polls for Phase 1 is February 27 while for phase 2 it is March 3. The counting day would be March 10. 

In the 2017 Assembly polls, the BJP had formed a government in the state even as it won just 21 seats compared to Congress' 28 by joining hands with two local parties – National People's Party (NPP) and Naga People's Front (NPF).