This morning, a shooting occurred near a polling station in Manipur. A 25-second video circulated online showed a commotion at the scene, with people shouting, and then two gunshots were heard in quick succession.

Then a third gunshot was heard, presumably in response to the first two. A series of gunshots, possibly from automatic weapons, are then heard and the person filming the video ducks behind a doorway. The rapid firefight lasted 10 seconds before stopping.

It was not clear in which of Manipur’s two seats – Inner Manipur and Outer Manipur – the shooting took place. The BJP’s Thounaojam Basanta Kumar Singh won the house seat in the 2019 elections.

NDTV Live Report | 2024 Lok Sabha elections

Basanta Kumar Singh was elected again from the seat.

The external seat reserved for Scheduled Tribes candidates was won by Naga People’s Front leader Katchuyi Timothy Chimik, who was once again in the fray. The NPF is an ally of the BJP in this election.

The northeastern state has been grappling with intermittent violence since May last year, when clashes between two ethnic communities left more than 200 people dead and tens of thousands displaced.

As a result, strict security measures have been put in place for the first of the two-phase elections in the state; 15 of Outer Manipur’s 28 assembly constituencies will go to polls on April 26.

Read | Crisis-hit Manipur to vote in first phase of elections

To accommodate displaced voters, the Election Commission has set up special polling stations — 22 in Churachandpur district and 24 in Kangpokpi, officials said.

Speaking to NDTV after the vote, Chief Minister N Biren Singh said: “I have full confidence that a BJP-centric government will be elected in the two assembly seats in Manipur. Yes, Manipur is facing It was a difficult period, but in the last four or five months, peace has been restored and that’s why we’re holding elections.”

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