Imphal: With the date for the first phase elections drawing near, at least 96 percent of voters have been inoculated with the first dose of COVID vaccine to date in 9-Thangmeiband Assembly Constituency, said Returning Officer Dr. Md Imran Khan.
He further said that 87 percent of voters have been vaccinated with the second dose, adding that, the vaccination percentage is one of the highest among the Assembly Constituencies in the State.
He said that Thangmeiband AC has 28,068 voters including 13,111 male, 14954 female and three Transgender voters. Thangmeiband AC also has 201 PWDs and 561 voters who are above 80 years of age, he added.
The 42 Polling Stations in the AC are divided into four sectors with one Sector Officer controlling a sector each, he said, adding that all Assured Minimum Facilities are being provided in all Polling Stations and that altogether 263 polling personnel including reserved personnel will be utilized in the Assembly Constituency. Out of 42 polling stations in the constituency, 9/4 Guigailong Village Community Hall has the lowest number of electorates with 268 voters and 9/1 Sinam Nodiya Upper Primary School has the highest number of electorates with 1017 voters.
Dr Imran also said that two polling stations 9/40 Majorkhul Community Hall East and 9/41 Majorkhul Community Hall West have been identified as Model Polling Stations. These two polling stations will exclusively be manned by Women Polling Personnel, he added.
Dr.Imran further expressed confidence of witnessing a higher voter turnout in the constituency as compared to the previous Assembly elections. Voter turnout in Thangmeiband AC in the 2017 Manipur Assembly election was 82.78 percent.
The RO has also sought the support of the voters to ensure the successful conduct of a free, fair and smooth election in the Assembly Constituency.
All 13 Assembly Constituencies in the Imphal West district are going to the polls in the first phase of elections on February 28.
For the 12th Manipur Legislative Assembly election, 9-Thangmeiband AC, which was bifurcated from the erstwhile Uripok-Thangmeiband AC, has three candidates in fray – Shri Jotin Waikhom of BJP, Shri Hijam Nutachandra Singh of INC and Shri Khumukcham Joykisan Singh of the JD(U).
Before Manipur attained Statehood, Thangmeiband AC was part of Uripok-Lalambung-Thangmeiband AC till the 1967 assembly election. After Manipur gained the status of a full-fledged State in 1972, Shagolsem Ibomcha of the Indian National Congress became the first Member of the Legislative Assembly winning the Thangmeiband Assembly seat by defeating Maibam Gouramani of Manipur People’s Party. In the next election in 1974, Maibam Gouramani defeated the sitting MLA Ibomcha.
In 1980, Independent candidate Koijam Radhabinod was elected as MLA from the constituency and became a Cabinet Minister. He retained his seat winning the 1984 election with an INC ticket.
However, in 1990, Ngangbam Kumarjit of the Manipur Peoples’ Party defeated Radhabinod Koijam. In 1995, Radhabinod Koijam regained the Thangmeiband seat and became the Deputy Chief Minister of the State. Koijam was once again elected from the constituency in 2000, and later served as the Chief Minister for a brief stint in the early part of 2001.
In the 8th State Assembly Election, 2002, Meinam Bhorot Singh of the Bharatiya Janata Party won the seat by defeating Radhabinod Koijam, who fought the election with Samata Party ticket. In the 2007 General Assembly Election, Radhabinod Koijam contested the election with Nationalist Congress Party ticket from the 9-Thangmeiband AC and won the seat.
In the 10th General Elections to the Manipur Legislative Assembly, 2012, Shri Khumukcham Joykishan of All India Trinamool Congress Party was elected the Member of Legislative Assembly from Thangmeiband AC by defeating Jotin Waikhom of INC.
During the Bye-election to the 9-Thangmeiband AC seat in 2015, Joykisan came out as the winner with a BJP ticket. He again retained the seat in the 2017 election with an INC ticket leaving behind his arch-rival Jotin Waikhom of BJP by a margin of just 157 votes.
