Manipur: over 80 per cent turnout, violence in two booths

Over 80 per cent turnout was reported from one Lok Sabha constituency where polling was held Thursday in the second phase amid violence in two booths were voting was stalled for sometime, officials said here.

State Chief Electoral Officer PK Singh said 80.47 per cent of the over 9 lakh voters exercised their franchise in the Inner Manipur Lok Sabha constituency.

"This is not the final figure as report from all the centres are yet to reach here," Singh said.

The turnout for the 19 polling stations where re-poll was held on Thursday is 84.80 per cent, he said.

However, this figure does not include record of one polling station ub Churanchandpur district.

The Election Commission on Tuesday ordered re-poll in 19 polling stations of Outer Manipur, the second parliamentary seat of the state, following complaints of voter intimidation by militants and destruction of EVMs and VVPATs during the first phase voting on April 11.

Violence was reported in this phase too. Voting was stalled in two polling booths of Inner Manipur constituency on Thursday after violence broke out over alleged proxy voting and dispute among the election agents, the CEO said.

A group of men stormed into a polling station at Kiyamgei Muslim Makha locality in Imphal East district around 11.30 am and broke EVMs and VVPATs, claiming that "proxy voting" was being carried out in the station, Singh told PTI.

It was only after the security personnel opened fire in the air, the mob dispersed, Singh said.

In another booth in the same area, a scuffle broke out between the polling agents of opposing political parties around 3 pm, derailing the voting process.

The reason behind the skirmish between the agents was not clear as yet, the CEO said. Sources in the election office said that re-polling was likely in the two booths of East Imphal district. Manipur Governor Najma Heptulla cast her vote in the day at T G Higher Secondary School in Imphal West district.