IMPHAL, April 2— Nine including two lady candidates are likely to fight for the Scheduled Tribe reserved seat in Manipur on April 20 next. Manipur will go to the polls on April 20 and April 26 for two parliamentary seats—the Outer and the Inner. Outer seat is reserved for Scheduled Tribe candidates.
Till the last date of filing nomination altogether eight candidates have filed their nomination papers for the Outer Manipur parliamentary constituency for the ensuing 14th Lok Sabha elections on Wednesday afternoon. Former minister Morung Makunga who filed his nomination as an independent candidate a few days back also filed another nomination on an all India Trinamool Congress (aitc) ticket Wednesday.
Earlier five other candidates who have filed their papers to contest for the outer parliamentary seat are D Loli Adanee of the Bharatiya Janata Party (bjp), Rosangzuala of the Janata Dal-United (jdu), sitting mp Holkhomang Haokip of the Nationalist Congress Party (ncp), Mani Charenamai on an independent ticket and Naga National Party (nnp) candidate Valley Rose Hungyo, who has also edits Aja a Tangkhul dialect daily in Ukhrul, also submitted her nomination papers at 1 pm of March 30, accompanied by nnp president shri Ng. Hungyo. It may be mentioned that Rose is likely to be treated as an independent candidate as NNP is yet to be recognised as a political party by the Election Commission of India.
Haokip who is contesting on a Nationalist Congress Party (ncp) ticket while talking to this correspondent, said that as per decision of the central authority the Congress party is going to support the ncp candidates in the Outer constituency this time and the ncp Manipur unit would support the Congress candidate in inner Manipur parliamentary constituency.