Manipur Election - Assembly & Parliamentary Constituencies Elections in Manipur

Government & Politics:

The Manipur Legislative Assembly is the unicameral legislature of the Indian state of Manipur. At present, it consists of 60 members, directly elected from 60 single-seat constituencies. The tenure of the Legislative Assembly is five years unless dissolved sooner. The current Speaker of the Assembly is Y. Khemchand Singh. The meeting place of the Legislative Assembly is at Imphal, Manipur.
Manipur has 2 parliamentary constituencies. The state has 60 legislative assembly constituencies out of which 20 are reserved for a candidate belonging to scheduled caste and tribes. The state contributes 1 seats to the upper house, the Rajya Sabha.

Administration:

Divisional administration:

The Indian state of Manipur is made up of 16 administrative districts. A divisional commissioner an officer of Indian Administrative service (IAS) is responsible for heading the administration of a division; the Divisional minister is also responsible for the collection of revenue and maintenance of law and order in his or her division.

District administration:

A district of an Indian state is an administrative geographical unit, headed by a district magistrate or a deputy commissioner, an officer belonging to the Indian Administrative Service. The district magistrate or the deputy commissioner is assisted by a number of officials belonging to different wings of the administrative services of the state.
A superintendent of Police, an officer belonging to Indian Police Service is entrusted with the responsibility of maintaining law and order and related issues.
On 9 December 2016, the government created 7 new districts, bringing the total number of districts to 16.

Judiciary:

The Manipur High Court is the High Court of the state of Manipur, India. It was established on 25 March 2013, after making suitable amendments in the Constitution of India and North-Eastern Areas (Re-organisation) Act, 1971. The seat of the High Court is at Imphal, the capital of Manipur. The first Chief Justice is Justice Abhay Manohar Sapre. Earlier, a bench of the Gauhati High Court used to have jurisdiction over the state of Manipur.
The President of India appoints the chief justice of the High Court of the Manipur judiciary on the advice of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of India as well as the Governor of Manipur. Other judges are appointed by the President of India on the advice of the Chief Justice of the High Court. The current chief justice of Manipur is P. V. Sanjay Kumar.

Manipur Legislative Assembly Elections 2017:

In the last election, held in 2012, the Congress won 42 seats and incumbent Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh was re-elected. In 2014, the Manipur State Congress Party, with its five Members of Legislative Assembly, joined the ruling Congress.
A Legislative Assembly election was held in Manipur on 4 March and 8 March of 2017 to elect the 60 members of the Manipur Legislative Assembly, as the term of the previous Assembly was to end on 18 March 2017. Voter-verified paper audit trail (VVPAT) machines were used along with Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) in four assembly constituencies in Manipur.
The BJP has formed its first ever government in Manipur though it was not the single largest party in the assembly. The BJP staked its claim and was invited by the governor to form the government. N. Biren Singh is the first-ever Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief minister of Manipur. He took oath on March 15, 2017 along with eight other ministers in Imphal. Singh, who was invited by Governor Najma Heptulla on 14th March evening.
Biren allegedly has the support of 32 MLAs in the house. After the results the BJP had emerged as the second largest party in the state after the Congress. The congress has 28 seats in the house but failed to produce 3 more MLAs in the 60-member Manipur legislative assembly.
The central government along with the state government has failed to resolve the deadlock and the talks with UNC have failed which is adamant in its demand. Manipur witnessed campaigning by major parties. Interestingly UNC also fought on the 15 seats in the state. The Congress, the BJP, People’s Resurgence and Justice Alliance (PRJA), the Left Democratic Front (LDF) and the Naga People’s Front (NPF) were the main political parties in the fray.
The rights activist Irom Sharmila who was on indefinite fast unto death against imposition of Army act last year broke her fast and went on to launch her own political party called People’s Resurgence and Justice Alliance (PRJA) which fought 10 seats. Sharmila lost to chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh from Thoubal constituency. Her party could not open an account.

Lok Sabha Elections 2019

The 2019 Indian general election in Manipur for two Lok Sabha seats was held in two phases on 11 – 18 April 2019. Voters turnout in first phase was 84.21% and the second phase was 81.16%
In 2009 Election Results the UPA won around 261 out of 543 seats, and in the second position was NDA with 158 seats, while 23 seats were won by Left parties.
In the 2014 Election Results the BJP won 282 seats out of 543 seats. This took the NDA tally to 336 seats out of 543 seats in the Lok Sabha. INC could only manage to win 44 seats and stayed in the second position while AIADMK party from Tamil Nadu came third with 37 seats in the 2014 Lok Sabha Elections.
In 2019, the BJP is set to return to power at the Centre after a sweeping win in the 2019 Lok Sabha election , armed with a bigger mandate than in the 2014 General Election. The party - led by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP President Amit Shah duo has secured 303 seats in the 17th Lok Sabha. Meanwhile, the Congress, the main Opposition party, managed to increase its vote share from 2014 only by a handful of votes, with a final tally of 52 seats. There will be no Leader of Opposition in the upcoming Lower House for a second consecutive term.

Manipur Legislature:

The Manipur Legislative Assembly is the unicameral legislature of the Indian state of Manipur. At present, it consists of 60 members, directly elected from 60 single-seat constituencies. The tenure of the Legislative Assembly is five years unless dissolved sooner. The current Speaker of the Assembly is Y. Khemchand Singh. The meeting place of the Legislative Assembly is at Imphal, Manipur.

Issues of state

Major issues that Manipur currently faces:

Poverty: The study reveals that out of the total of 325 families in two hill districts of Manipur, 278 families (85 per cent) are found living below poverty line.
Education: Lack of access to quality and affordable education as well as vocational training institutes outside the capital city of Imphal has often led to students from other parts of the state dropping out before acquiring any meaningful educational qualification. The Report of the Higher Education Commission has noted this glaring disparity between the Imphal Valley and the rest of the state. The education infrastructure is primitive and quality education is almost non-existent in areas outside Imphal.
Employment and opportunities: The employment situation in Manipur is a matter of concern, with most of it being a rural phenomenon. The number of persons on the live registers of the employment exchanges rose from 2.28 lakh as on June 30, 1993 to 7.14 lakh as on June 30, 2012. The high rate of unemployment, particularly among the educated youth, is due to the lack of an industrial base, the absence of private enterprises, and limited employment opportunities in the government sector.
Bandh Culture: A bandh is a powerful means of protest as it has a significant impact on the local residents. It forces the government machinery to bring a short-term solution with the bandh callers in condensing the situation. By calling a bandh, citizens are prevented from communications, traders are prevented from carrying on their business activities, and daily laborers are prevented from earning wages and other business establishments. It leads to losing the huge economy of the country or the state.
In 2009 Election Results the UPA won around 261 out of 543 seats, and in the second position was NDA with 158 seats, while 23 seats were won by Left parties.

In 2014 Election Results the BJP won 282 seats out of 543 seats. This took the NDA tally to 336 seats out of 543 seats in the Lok Sabha. INC could only manage to win 44 seats and stayed in the second position while AIADMK party from Tamil Nadu came third with 37 seats in the 2014 Lok Sabha Elections.

In 2024, the BJP is set to return to power at the Centre after a sweeping win in the 2024 Lok Sabha election , armed with a bigger mandate than in the 2014 General Election. The party - led by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP President Amit Shah duo has secured 303 seats in the 17th Lok Sabha. Meanwhile, the Congress, the main Opposition party, managed to increase its vote share from 2014 only by a handful of votes, with a final tally of 52 seats. There will be no Leader of Opposition in the upcoming Lower House for a second consecutive term.