Election Commission to announce polling dates for Manipur at 3:30 pm today

NEW DELHI: The Election Commission will announce dates for Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Goa, Manipur, and Uttarakhand at 3:30 pm, a statement from the national polling body has said.

Of the five states voting, the BJP rules four and the Congress is in power in Punjab.

The election in Punjab and Uttar Pradesh will be keenly followed, with the Congress fighting to retain control of one of the few states it rules outright.

The BJP controls Manipur with the help of its regional allies, although the Congress won 28 Seats in the 60-member assembly in the last election.

Elections in all five states will be held amid a massive surge in Covid cases across the country fuelled in part by the Omicron variant - this morning the Union Health Ministry reported over 1.41 lakh new infections in the previous 24 hours, an increase of 21 per cent from the day before.