Over 80 percent polling in Manipur bypolls

Over 80 percent of the electorate on Saturday voted in the bypolls to Manipur assembly from two constituencies - Thongju and Thangmeiband, an election official said.

The bypolls were necessitated after the assembly speaker disqualified three MLAs - Thongam Biswajit Singh (Thongju), Khumukcham Joykishan (Thangmeiband) and O. Lukhoi (Wangoi) - under the anti-defection law on May 28.

The Manipur High Court, however, stayed Lukhoi's disqualification.

The Chief Electoral Officer's office said there were some problems with a EVM in one polling station and a repoll would be held there.

There were three candidates in the fray for the bypoll from Thangmeiband constituency while four candidates contested from Thongju constituency.