ECI hints at possibility of re-poll in some polling stations
Source: Hueiyen News Service
Imphal, February 27 2012:
Leaders of 10 non-Congress political parties who left for Delhi yesterday met the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) today who hinted at the possibility of re-poll in some polling stations of the state where proxy voting have been reported.
According to information received by Hueiyen Lanpao, CEC of India, S Y Quraishi met the leaders of 10 non-Congress political parties of Manipur who have been camping in Delhi at around 1pm today.
During the meeting the issue over bogus votes was minutely discussed and SY Quraishi pointed out that invalidating the bogus votes is not technically feasible and hence putting it into practice is nearly impossible.
However, the issue of misuse of ballot papers would be taken seriously and strict instructions would be given to the State Chief Electoral Officer.
After a short break, the meeting resumed at around 5 pm today where National leaders of non-Congress parties also attended.
During the course of the meeting, Quraishi told the political leaders that ECI has looked into all the issues brought up seriously.
However, as it would not be technically feasible to invalidate the bogus votes, ECI would consider the option of conducting re-poll in some of polling stations in 'sensitive areas' at the earliest possible time.
Consequent to the meeting with the CEC, the leaders of 10 non-Congress political parties would meet the National media and brief them about the recently held elections to the 10th Manipur State Assembly where various cases of bogus votes have been reported.
The step taken up by 10 non-Congress political parties would help in bringing about a political change in the state.
It is also hopeful that the ECI would initiate positive action in this regard and come up with a specific decision very soon, sources added.
Meanwhile, it has been reported that the notification for re-poll in some of the polling stations in the state would be declared in a couple of days.
The ECI has reportedly asked the State Election Office to furnish the precise reports of the bogus votes to the ECI latest by today evening.
The re-poll would be most probably held before the schedule time fixed for counting of votes.