Imphal (Manipur) [India], April 18 (ANI): With just a few hours left for the first phase of the Lok Sabha elections to be held on April 19, nine special polling station has been set up for the internally displaced people near a relief camp in Imphal East.
The Deputy Commissioner of Imphal East District, Khumanthem Diana Devi, visited the station and took stock of the situation. 
“This is one of the biggest relief camps in Imphal East district. It has a total of 396 internally displaced voters. So, for them arrangements have been made under the directions of the Election Commission of India and Manipur Chief Electoral Officer. Voting arrangements have been made at this particular place. Adequate security is also in place. There will also be micro-observers, observing the entire polling process in this particular special polling station. There are a total of 9 polling stations. Micro-observers have been deployed for each of them. CAPF is also being deployed for each of them,” DC Imphal East told ANI.
Meanwhile, a special eco-friendly polling station and a green model polling station have been set up in Imphal East. 
She said that all polling parties have reached polling stations safely.
“We are all set to go to the polls tomorrow. There is adequate security. We expect no untoward incidents. Taking your platform, I also convey my best wishes to the entire polling team. I also appeal to the voters to ensure smooth and peaceful conduct of elections,” she added.
Speaking on green initiatives, she said that in this Lok Sabha election, Imphal East district has initiated this green initiative, which we are encouraging with eco-friendly election materials.
“We are adopting a bomboo dustbin instead of a plastic garbage bin. We have also used electric vehicles today. These are some of the green initiatives we have taken. We are very proud to implement it,” she said.
Earlier today, a security briefing was conducted at the district election office in Imphal ahead of the first phase of Lok Sabha polls.
Imphal West Deputy Commissioner Th. Kirankumar said that the final briefing is on security has been completed.
“The final briefing is on security which we have completed. The team is completely prepared for a safe, free and fair election in all the sensitive as well as normal areas – where they should be deployed…In addition, the dispersal plan has been intimated to all the teams…We have received 70 critical and vulnerable polling stations. We have micro-observers at these polling stations, in addition to the normal security deployment. Most of them will be manned by the CAPF…In addition, there are 2-3 layers of security that we are placing in addition to the security personnel deployed at the polling stations,” he added. 
On preparations for the first phase of Lok Sabha elections, Deputy Commissioner, Imphal East, said that adequate coordination has been kept in place as the polling teams have arrived.
“They are assigned to their assistant returning officers. The teams shall be going along with their assigned security personnel to their respective polling stations. We have a total of 441 polling stations, including 432 normal polling stations and 9 special polling stations. A total of 441 polling teams are deputing today for election duty. We have taken adequate security measures. So, there should be no untoward incident during the polling process,” she said.
Manipur will hold two phases of elections for its parliamentary constituencies. The Inner Manipur constituency will go to the polls on April 19, while voting in the Outer Manipur constituency will be held on for two days on April 19 and April 26.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has nominated Thounaojam Basanta Kumar Singh as its candidate for the Inner Manipur Lok Sabha seat, while the Indian National Congress has fielded Angomcha Bimol Akoijam.
Voting for the first phase of Lok Sabha elections will take place on April 19 in 102 constituencies across 21 states and Union Territories. (ANI)
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