Repoll goes off smoothly, poll pc pegged at 75
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, June 06 2015 : Except for some minor stand-offs between rival political workers, repoll held today in 70 polling stations of the six ADCs was by and large peaceful.

In addition to the 70 polling stations, three polling stations of Churachandpur ADC also went to polls today as they were left out of the June 1 election because polling officials could not reach them on time.

According to information received from the State Election office, polling percentage for the six ADCs are Ukhrul 85.9, Tamenglong 75.14, Sadar Hills 83.59, Chandel 92.27, Senapati 42.2 and Churachandpur 75 (exluding two polling stations whose officials could not reach the district headquarters till the time of filing this report.

People queuing up in front of a polling station at Sailen

As for the 70 polling stations, they went to repoll because all kinds of disruptive activities such as booth capturing, tearing of ballot tears, smashing of ballot boxes and pouring water/ink into ballot boxes took place at these polling stations on June 1 .

As polling began at 21/1 Khamenlok polling station of 21-Chingdai Khullen DCC under Sadar Hills ADC, rival political workers of BJP and Congress confronted each other.

In the process, one girl was wounded.

Police brought the situation under control after firing three rounds of shots in the air.

After this, polling resumed and it went off smoothly.

Polling in 24/1 Kamu Khongsai and 24/4 Salam Patong polling stations of 24-Bongbal Khullen DCC went off without disruption.

Repoll was by and large peaceful at Loktei Riha polling station of Ukhrul district.

Votes were cast peacefully at Sailen village and Island village polling stations under Sadar Hills ADC.

In Chandel district, four candidates of 12-Chandel district hqtrs DCC were accused of casting proxy votes.

In a statement, Sng Larson, chief agent of Ts Willingson Anal, an Independent candidate of 12-DHQs said that the BJP, NPF and two Independent candidates cast proxy votes at 12/4 Kanakhu polling station.

These candidates are not in the electoral list of the particular polling station.

At the same time, the Independent candidate, Tongsin Willingson Anal has written to the DEO concerned demanding disqualification of the four candidates on ground that they cast proxy votes and for pasting campaign posters and flags within the polling area.

The re-poll ordered by State Election Commission at 15 booths across 9 DCCs in Churachandpur ended peacefully this evening, with initial reports indicating voter turn-out of more than 70 per cent.

The re-polling was peaceful in most of the booths but it is learnt that the situation at Changpikot under 12-Sagang DCC was tense throughout the day despite the heavy deployment of security personnel.

The particular booth with around 12 villages falling under its gambit has raised eyebrows on polling day, as it had recorded a dramatic polling percentage of 106 .

Security personnel from the district police, its reserve line, police commandos and Central para military forces were heavily deployed at the booth but sources said polling officials and election observers were constrained to take some hard decisions in order to avoid a stand-off.

Reporters who visited the booth said that around 73 pc could have been polled from 1071 votes.

Elsewhere, polling exercise was said to be relatively peaceful with security personnel strictly controlling voters' movement and body checks introduced in some booths.

The polling percentage for Tollen, Lhangjol, Bijang and some immediate villages were said to be over 70 per cent.

However there was no official word on it yet, as it has been claimed that they are still to receive the final tally.

An official on condition of anonymity said due to the sensitive nature of re-polling exercises officials were reluctant to share any crucial information while another said the polling percentage in Dailon under Thanlon DCC seems to have recorded a low rate of polling but added that official figure was still awaited.

Repoll at 18 polling stations in Sadar Hills ADC ended peacefully with a remarkable 87.28 pc turn out.

With tight security the polling began from 8 am till 4.30 pm.

All polling officials and security personnel deployed in the 18 polling stations have already arrived at ADC/DEO Sadar Hills and submitted their respective ballot boxes and materials to the authority concerned.

However, a reliable source reported that villagers of Ankhumbung blocked the entry gate towards 19/4 Ankhumbung Polling Station and had not allowed other village voters to cast their votes while similar incident was also reported at 19/7 Yongba Langkhong.