Re-polling will take place on April 30 at six booths of the Outer Manipur Lok Sabha constituency that had voted in the second phase, the Election Commission announced on Saturday, reported The Hindu
Amid the polling on Friday, unidentified miscreants damaged Electronic Voting Machines in the Ukhrul, Chingai and Kharong Assembly segments, according to the newspaper. Allegations of voter intimidation had also come up at some polling stations in Ukhrul.
On Friday, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh shared a video on X alleging that the voters were being intimidated to vote for the Naga People’s Front, which is an ally of the Bharatiya Janata Party in Manipur.
“The security forces are standing there mutely as our democracy is hijacked,” Ramesh had said in a post. “These are the most important elections of our lifetime.”
Re-elections were also held on April 22 at 11 polling stations in the Inner Manipur Lok Sabha constituency where incidents of vandalism and booth capturing were reported in the first phase.
The Inner Manipur constituency covers most of the Meitei-dominated valley regions while the Outer Manipur seat covers the Kuki-Zomi and Naga-dominated tribal areas.
Manipur has been gripped by ethnic clashes between the tribal Kuki and the dominant Meitei communities since May. The violence has killed 219 persons and displaced 60,000 people from their homes since May 3, according to figures released by the state government in February.
Also read:
- ‘Will Modi visit us if we vote?’: Why this election means little for Manipur’s displaced
- Why the BJP cannot be written off in Manipur despite the anger at its failure to end ethnic violence
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