Our Correspondent Imphal | January 11 Elections to eighteen Municipal Councils and eight Nagar Panchayats in the four valley districts of Manipur were held peacefully on Monday under tight security. The polling was by and large peaceful. People lined up at booths to cast their vote since early morning. The local body elections were held to elect 685 Councillors and 1042 Ward Development Committee (WDC) members. A total of nine Councillors and 162 WDC members had already been declared elected unopposed. In the elections, the Congress fielded 189 candidates, 181 candidates from BJP, 280 from Independent and 16 from CPI. Voting in the four districts was conducted from 8 am till 4 pm amid tight security. No untoward incidents were reported during the polling. Counting of vote will take place on January 15. In Bishnupur, the poll percentage was recorded as 81.13. The election was held in six Municipal Councils and one Nagar Panchayat in the district. For the first time in the state, only women personnel were deployed for poll duty at two polling stations in Nambol. Polling was disrupted at two booths Imphal East’s Jiribam subdivision when a scuffle ensued between workers of INC and BJP. But timely intervention by police allowed the voting to continue till 4 pm. 10 Councillors and 20 Ward members are to be elected from the subdivision where polling was conducted at 20 booths. In the subdivision, the INC put 10 candidates, seven by BJP and 10 from Independent.
