Dr Nara belittles Congress triumph
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, May 19 2014 : Reiterating that Parliamentary elections held in Manipur was not free and fair, common candidate of Left and Secular Alliance (LSA) in Inner Manipur Parliamentary Constituency Dr Moirangthem Nara alleged that Rs 50,000 each was distributed to religious institutions in Lilong assembly constituency to ensure election of Congress candidates by all means.

Conveying gratitude to the electorates for their overwhelming support to him at the recent hustings, Dr Nara said information has been received about Ministers and Congress party MLAs presenting cash gifts (Rs 50,000) to each of the Masjids in the Muslim-dominated AC to woo the voters through the religious platforms.

Contending that victory of Congress candidate Dr Th Meinya in the election do not reflect the truth for the triumph was merely an accumulation of unpopular votes, he said votes cast in his favour testify that franchise right of the people cannot be influenced by the power of money.

Addressing a press conference at Irawat Bhavan today, Dr Nara expressing that he has no regrets on losing the election however said the poll result is worrisome as the outcome reaffirmed public apprehension that the poll was not conducted in a free and fair manner.

Voicing resentment that despite furnishing evidences of proxy voting by Congress activists and subsequent assurance by the election Commission of India no concrete measure was initiated to eradicate electoral malpractices, the CPI leader opined that had the ECI effectively checked proxy voting he would have won by a convincing margin.

Besides corrupting the people the Congress party doled out cash sops to political agents of rival candidates so that the ruling party could rig the democratic exercise without any complaint, alleged Dr nara who also insisted that evidences of polling personnel intentionally ignoring Congress party workers rigging the electoral process in Khundrakpam AC were among the documents handed to the ECI.

Inspite of the ECI assuring that repoll would be conducted if proxy votes accounted for 20 percent of the total votes polled in a single polling station the ECI lacked commitment to translate the assurance into action, lamented the senior CPI leader and charged the ECI betraying trust of the people.

Suggesting that election authorities take effective steps to curb poll malpractice, he further demanded use of EVMs in future elections be abandoned for the said gadget is vulnerable to manipulation.

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