Opposition club against Congress in Manipur, approaches EC

New Delhi: Political parties in Manipur, including BJP and the Left, today got together against the state’s ruling Congress and complained to the Election Commission of alleged malpractices in the 28 January assembly elections in the state and sought a repoll. A delegation of the opposition parties met Chief Election Commissioner SY Quraishi and two Election Commissioners VS Sampath and HS Brahma in New Delhi and handed over a memorandum demanding a repoll in some areas.[caption id=“attachment_227110” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Irregularity in polling? PTI”]  [/caption] They also sought rejection of all postal ballots received in the state. The opposition parties in Manipur are alleging a number of cases of poll malpractices during the 28 January polls, which include impersonation/proxy voting and postal ballot made in bulk. “We are demanding a repoll in all those areas where such malpractices have taken place, especially in the two districts of Bishnupur and Thoubal, where there has been massive misuse of postal ballot,” said president of the Manipur People’s Party Nimai Chand Luwang. CPI secretary D Raja, who also met the EC top functionaries, alleged there have been a number of cases of proxy voting in the state. Luwang said, “We have reported to the EC a case where a woman has voted over 70 times. Such malpractice is more prevalent in the hilly areas and have sought the EC’s intervention.” When contacted, a top EC official said, “We are looking into the allegations and verifying them. We will take appropriate action accordingly.” The Commission this time had ordered compulsory photography of all voters at the polling booths after the indelible ink mark is put on their finger while voting. Manipur has 16.77 lakh voters and the state recorded a total voter turnout of around 80 per cent. The polling was marred by militant violence that claimed seven lives, including those of security personnel and an ultra. PTI