Muscle, money power openly used by parties: Irom Sharmila on exit polls

'Iron Lady' of Manipur and PRAJA (Peoples' Resurgence and Justice Alliance) chief, Irom Chanu Sharmila on Saturday said she is not much affected by the exit poll result, adding that in case of her defeat she will try again in the 2019 General Election.

"I do not feel much affected by the result. It depends upon the people's mindset. I don't feel much affected by it, because people can still change their minds and everybody knows muscle and money power is being openly used by parties," she told ANI.

"What we really need to be is the power to bring the change and make the difference from dark to light. In case of my defeat, I want to try in 2019 election," she added.

Results for Manipur assembly elections 2017 are due today. The elections for the state were held in two phases. The first phase was held on March 4 and the second phase was held on March 8. The elections were held for a total of 60 seats. Thirty eight constituencies went to polls in the first phase while the remaining 22 constituencies went to polls in the second phase of elections.

According to CVoter, Inner Manipur has its votes divided between BJP and Congress (BJP-14 and Congress-15), while the newly-created districts have voted for BJP and not the ruling Congress - BJP 8 seats and Congress 3 seats. Outer Manipur has also shown an inclination towards BJP with 6 seats while Congress is reduced to 2 seats.

Meanwhile, elaborate arrangements and heavy security are in place for today's crucial counting of votes for Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa and Manipur Assembly Elections.

The counting will start at 8 in the morning and firstly, all the postal ballots will be counted.

The Election Commission (EC) has issued guidelines on security arrangements for counting of votes, and has also set up facilities for disseminating trends and results of elections of five assemblies.