Imphal, January 31: With the tempo of canvassing for the three-phased election to the 9th Manipur Legislative Assembly in February gaining momentum, tension between the workers of various political parties has been on the rise with reports of poll related violence coming in from different parts of the State.

Today, workers of Manipur People�s Party (MPP) and Congress Party almost came to blows at Mayang Imphal AC of Imphal West district during election campaigning.

Timely arrival of the police, however, brought the situation under control.

According to information received by the press, the flag hoisting ceremonies of both MPP candidate N Nilachandra and Congress candidate Kh Ratan were held at their respective residences today.

After the flag hoisting ceremony of Nilachandra, a public meeting was organised at Mayang Imphal Bazar while Congress workers and supporters of Kh Ratan took out a rally from Mayang Imphal Higher Secondary School ground.

As the rally passed the site of the meeting, tension ran high among the workers of both the political parties and they almost came to blows when police personnel intervened and put the situation under control.

Later talking to mediapersons, MPP candidate N Nilachandra accused the police personnel of supporting the Congress workers.

It is really unfortunate that the police personnel led the rally of the Congress workers towards the site where an election meeting of MPP was underway, he said, adding that the matter has been reported to the RO concerned for taking up necessary action.

Addressing the MPP meeting, party president Dr L Chandramani launched a scathing attack on the Congress party and said people of Manipur know that it is at the time of the Congress led Government that wedges have been driven among the various communities living in Manipur since time immemorial and people living in the hills have risen the demand for joining with Nagaland.

Moreover, despite the urgency for development of human resources and promote quality education, the Congress led Government has been trying to belittle the importance of the education system by adopting different systems to be followed at the hills and the valley, he alleged.

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