Imphal : Following the trend across the country, BJP bags the Inner Manipur Lok Sabha seat while NPF or the Naga People’s Party, its ally in the government coalition in the state bagged the Outer Manipur seat.

Of the two Lok Sabha seats from Manipur, BJP’s candidate Dr. RK Ranjan beat his nearest Congress rival Oinam Nabakishore by 16,830 votes to win the inner Manipur seat. The BJP candidate secured 2,61,802 votes, INC candidate got 2,44,972 votes, the Communist Party of India (CPI) candidate Dr. Moirangthem Nara came third with 1,33,093 votes.

On the other hand, the Naga People’s Front (NPF) candidate Dr. Lorho S. Pfoze took the outer Manipur seat with a landslide victory beating his nearest BJP candidate, Benjamin Shokhopao Mate by 75,678 votes. NPF secured 3,62,506 votes, BJP got 2,86,828 votes and INC candidate K. James got only 1,51,103 votes.

Prior and counting security arrangement was tight with mobile check-points a kilometer away from the counting hall and the counting hall entrance. As part of the security arrangement, even media persons were not allowed to use mobile phones inside the campus while counting was being conducted.

The counting for postal ballots began around 8 in the morning and went on till late night with the successful candidates receiving their official certificates only by 12.45 past midnight.

Except for the commotion raised by congress party workers over the absence of its party agent during the counting of votes at DC complex Thoubal delaying the counting for about an hour, there was no report of any disturbances in other districts other than technical glitches.

Though political pundits predicted that the anti-Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) wave could be a decisive factor in the outcome of the poll results, it did not have any impact on the voters as the BJP stole the show.