Dhami was made the chief minister for the second consecutive term despite losing to Khatima in the recent assembly polls and is required to be elected as an MLA within six months of being sworn in as the chief minister.
In this election, a total of 757 polling stations have been set up out of which 80 polling stations will be conducted exclusively by women polling officials.
These seats are spread across 35 local authorities' constituencies. The biennial poll was earlier planned on two dates but now it will be conducted together on April 9. Counting will take place on April 12.
Long queues of voters, mostly women, were seen outside polling booths in the morning hours to avoid the scorching sun and heatwave conditions prevailing in the state capital, neighbouring Cuttack and Berhampur.
The final round of polling will be a test of the alliances carved out by both the BJP and the Samajwadi Party (SP) with small caste-based parties.
BJP has decided to go solo this time and is contesting all 60 seats alone. On the other hand, Congress has formed an alliance of six political parties and named it Manipur Progressive Secular Alliance (MPSA). The coalition partners in MPSA include Congress, Communist Party of India (CPI), Communist Party of India (Marxist), Forward Bloc, Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP), and Janata Dal (Secular).
UP ministers in the contest were Surya Pratap Shahi (Pathardeva), Satish Chandra Dwivedi (Itwa) and Jai Pratap Singh (Bansi), Shree Ram Chauhan (Khajani) and Jai Prakash Nishad (Rudrapur).
The CEO said that the proposal for re-poll in 12 polling stations in two districts -- Imphal East and Churachandpur -- was recommended based on the facts and information received from the respective returning officers.
As per the schedule of the Election Commission, the polling exercise, which began on Feb 10 from Uttar Pradesh, will conclude on Mar 7 in all five states. The results will be announced simultaneously on Mar 10.
The districts going to the polls on Sunday include Sultanpur, Chitrakoot, Pratapgarh, Kaushambi, Prayagraj, Barabaki, Bahraich, Shravasti and Gonda. Amethi and Raebareli, once considered as Congress bastions, Ayodhya, the epicentre of movement for the construction of Lord Ram temple too go to the polls on Sunday.
Punjab is witnessing a multi-corner contest this time with Congress, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Shiromani Akali Dal-Bahujan Samaj Party alliance, and the coalition of Bharatiya Janata Party-former Chief Minister Amarinder Singh's Punjab Lok Congress party as key players.
Moga district officials said that action will be taken against the actor if he steps out of his house.
In the Chennai Corporation area, the repolling would be in a booth (Washermenpet) under Ward 51 and another polling station (Odaikuppam-Besant Nagar) in Ward 179.
The single-phase election was held to fill up 12,838 posts in 21 corporations, 138 municipalities, 490 town panchayats and 649 urban local bodies in the state. A total of 74,416 candidates including many independents entered the fray.
First phase of polling are about to start in Punjab. Ahead of the polls, all parties seem to be singing the song of 'Haay Kursi'. Watch this episode of India TV's 'Oh My God'.
The move came in the wake of Vishwas' allegations against AAP convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. He accused the AAP supremo of supporting separatists in Punjab.
As many as 57,778 candidates are in the fray for 12,607 posts of ward members in 648 urban local bodies including municipal corporations, municipalities and town panchayats and the voting exercise began in over 31,000 polling stations.
The meeting came two days before the Punjab Assembly polls, with the BJP going all out to woo the Sikh community.
The Lucknow DM also highlighted the voter turnout in Lucknow over the years and said that it needs to be increased this time.
For Uttar Pradesh, a total of 586 candidates are in the fray, while 301 candidates are contesting in the single-phase polls in Goa and 632 candidates are in the fray in Uttarakhand.
Top News
Latest News
