A voter turnout of 73.05% was recorded till 3 p.m. in repolling at 11 polling stations in the Inner Manipur Lok Sabha constituency, officials said on April 22. The decision about fresh polling was taken following a directive from the Election Commission, which declared voting held at these stations on April 19 as null and void. The Hindu reported that “Voters queued up since early morning to exercise their franchise at all the 11 polling stations, which was affected by riot-like situation on Friday. No disturbance or violence has been reported so far on Monday,” an election official said.
On Saturday, April 20, hours after the Congress demanding repolling in 47 booths in the conflict-ridden state, alleging that booths were captured and Elections were rigged, the ECI had ordered a repoll in 11 booths of the state; Incidents of firing, intimidation, destruction of EVMs at some polling stations and allegations of booth capturing were reported from conflict-hit Manipur on the scheduled day of the first round of poll on April 19.
The repolling on Monday April 22 began at 7 am. Repolling included these booths include those at Moirangkampu Sajeb Upper Primary School and S. Ibobi Primary School (East Wing), in the Khurai assembly constituency, four in Kshetrigao, one in Thongju, and three in Uripok. Additionally, three polling stations in Iroishemba area in Uripok constituency and at Khaidem Makha in Konthoujam in Imphal West district are conducting fresh polls. “Voters have been queueing up since early morning to exercise their franchise at all the 11 polling stations, which was affected by riot-like situation on Friday. No disturbance or violence has been reported so far on Monday,” an election official told The Financial Express.
On April 19, multiple incidents of violence erupted across Manipur during the first phase of the 2024 general elections. In one of the incidents, miscreants opened fire at a polling booth, injuring one civilian.
Clashes erupted in the polling booth at Moirangkampu Sajeb Awang Leikai of Imphal, with some miscreants damaging the EVM machines.
Brief reports on repolling were carried by Hindu. Hindustan Times and Live Mint apart from Times of India and Financial Express. Manipur’s Chief Electoral Officer had said on April 20, in an order, “The Election Commission of India has, under Sections 58(2) and 58A(2) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, directed that the poll taken on April 19 (Friday) in respect of 11 polling stations listed in the table below of 1-inner Manipur parliamentary constituency to be void and appointed April 22, 2024 (Monday) as the date for taking fresh poll at the said polling stations with hours of poll from 7:00 AM to 5:00 PM.”
The Live Mint reported that the decision of the ECI came in the midst of eports of violence and electoral malpractices during the initial voting phase, including incidents of firing, voter intimidation, and destruction of electronic voting machines. There were also allegations of booth capturing, notably in a region that saw a voter turnout of 72% across the two Lok Sabha constituencies of Inner Manipur and Outer Manipur.
Earlier in the day, before the announcement of repolling, the Manipur Congress, led by President K Meghachandra, had raised concerns over electoral integrity, demanding repolling at 47 stations. They alleged booth capturing and rigging, specifically calling for action in 36 stations in the Inner Manipur constituency and 11 in the Outer Manipur constituencies.
Was the polling on April 19 “free and fair?”
Reports emerged from conflict-affected Manipur of firing, intimidation, and destruction of electronic voting machines (EVMs) at several polling booths, alongside allegations of booth capturing during the first phase of Lok Sabha elections on April 19. The state has been grappling with ethnic violence since May of the previous year. From the same firing incident, one civilian was reported to be injured after the firing, and clashes were reported at a polling booth in Moirangkampu Sajeb Awang Leikai of Imphal, Manipur, during voting in the Lok Sabha elections.
The Lok Sabha election 2024 is being held in India in seven phases, and all 32 assembly segments of the inner Manipur parliamentary constituency and 15 assembly segments of the outer Manipur (ST) parliamentary constituency voted on April 19.
Repoll in Arunachal too
Meanwhile, The Times of India reported repolling in eight polling stations across Arunachal Pradesh after the Election Commission of India declared the initial polling void. The EC has taken decisive action in response to reports of EVM damage and violence during polling in the state. Deputy chief electoral officer Liken Koyu announced that fresh polling will take place on April 24, from 6 am to 2 pm, in the affected areas.
The newspaper reported the following polling stations identified for repolling:
Sario in the Bameng assembly constituency, East Kameng district
Longte Loth under Nyapin assembly seat, Kurung Kumey district
Dingser, Bogiya Siyum, Jimbari, and Lengi polling booths under Nacho constituency, Upper Subansiri district, Bogne and Molom polling booths under Rumgong assembly constituency, Siang district.
It was these locations that had witnessed disturbances and malfunctions that compromised the voting process during the simultaneous Lok Sabha and Assembly polls held on April 19.
Despite the challenges, a significant portion of the electorate turned out, with an estimated 76.44 per cent of the total 8,92,694 voters exercising their franchise. However, concerns over the validity of the process prompted the Election Commission’s intervention.
(With inputs from PTI and ANI)