Ordering re-election
- The People's Chronicle Editorial :: March 05, 2022 -
DESPITE the claims of peaceful conduct of the first phase of polling to the 12th Manipur Legislative Assembly on February 28 made by the election authority in the state, ordering of re-election by the Election Commission of India (ECI) in at least 12 polling stations falling under five assembly constituencies spread across three districts, namely Churachandpur, Imphal East and Kangpokpi, has shown that the polling process in the first phase was far from being peaceful, not to speak of being free and fair.
The polling stations which will go to re-election along with the 22 assembly constituencies in the second phase of election on March 5 are 1/20-Sarouthek under Khundrakpam AC in Imphal East district; 51/46- New Keithelmanbi under Saitu AC in Kangpokpi district; 56/5-Singsang, 56/10-Maite and 56/19-Tinsuong under Thanlon AC; 57/20-Majuron Kuki, 57/31-N Chingphei, 57/34-Khoirentak, 57-39-Molsang and 57/49-Leinom under Henglep AC, 60/36-Teikot and 60/43-Maukot under Singhat AC in Churachandpur district.
The recommendation for re-election in these 12 polling stations was said to have been made based on the facts and information/reports received from respective Returning Officers about the damage caused to EVMs by miscreants during and after the election.
It is true that the extent of election-related violent incidents witnessed in the state has been unprecedented this time.
A recent assessment report by the people's election monitoring team of Youth Collective Manipur (YCM) has documented 46 violent incidents including 4 deaths, 10 bomb blasts, 15 cases of gun violence and 19 instances of ransacking of properties among other poll-related violent incidents in the state.
The assessment report, which mainly takes into account of the pre-poll phase, has also expressed grave concern over blatant use of muscle and money power by the candidates in the fray as well as open intimidation by armed ethnic militant groups which force members of their respective ethnic communities to vote for candidates of some particular political parties supported by them.
So, ordering of repoll in some polling stations where election had been conducted under a hostile and volatile environment does not come as a surprise.
Another interesting fact behind ordering of re-election in the 12 polling stations is that the demand has been raised not just from one or two political parties in the fray but from multiple parties.
While the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had alleged that 23 booths were rigged during the first phase of election and demanded re-election in these booths, the opposition bloc led by Congress party demanded re-election in all the polling stations of Churachandpur and Kangpokpi districts, contending that threat from a militant group, which is bound by the Suspension of Operation (SoO) pact signed with the government, vitiated the entire democratic process of electing representatives by the people.
Although repoll has been ordered only in 12 polling stations, which is much below the expectation of both the ruling and the opposition political parties, one thing is undeniable - regardless of the endless around of blame games and trading charges among the political parties, there is none which could exonerate themselves for the sorry state of affairs that the five-yearly democratic exercise of electing representatives by the people has come into in the state today.
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