As voting ended in the second and final phase of the Manipur Assembly elections on Saturday, Chief Electoral Officer of the state Rajesh Agrawal said that the polling stations at which the EVMs’ data could not be retrieved following poll-violence incidents have chances to undergo a re-poll.
Speaking to ANI, Agrawal said, “In the hills also, out of 11 Assembly constituencies, poll-related incidents of EVM smashing were restricted to 5 Assembly constituencies. Whereas all together of 12 EVMs were disrupted, some of which we could restore and restart the polling, in some cases, the EVMs were destroyed beyond the retrieval of data. So maybe, we will examine the records and see what decision has to be taken for those polling stations.”
“Where the EVM data cannot be retrieved, definitely we will have to order some repoll. So there are chances of some repolls at least,” the CEO added.
Speaking further about the poll violence registered during the second phase of polling today, Agrawal said that one person succumbed to the injuries that he suffered in the incident while another person is undergoing treatment in Imphal.
“In the 47/49 Karong Assembly constituency, there was a minor incident of EVM smashing by the mob in the early hours of polling. That event got escalated wherein two people got injured. Both these people were evacuated by chopper air ambulance to treatment. One of the persons succumbed to the injuries. The other one of undergoing treatment in Regional Institute of Medical Sciences, Imphal,” he said.
Informing about the poll percentage registered today, the CEO said that Manipur may register a total of nearly 85 per cent as per the trend that the state follows.
“Largely the second phase of the polling has also been very peaceful. Till 5 pm, a total percentage of 76.62 per cent of the poll has been reported. The final data will be out only after all the polling parties come back. As per the trend that Manipur has maintained of polling around 85 per cent in every election. I think phase two will be nothing different,” he said.
The 22 contituencies that are went to polls today include Lilong, Thoubal, Wangkhem, Heirok, Wangjing Tentha, Khangabo, Wabgai, Kakching, Hiyanglam, Sugnoo, Jiribam, Chandel (ST), Tengnoupal (ST), Phungyar (ST), Ukhrul (ST), Chingai (ST), Karong (ST), Mao (ST), Tadubi (ST), Tamei (ST), Tamenglong (ST), and Nungba (ST).
As many as 92 candidates, including two women, are in the fray whose electoral fate was decided in the second phase of Assembly polls.
The counting of the votes will take place on March 10. (ANI)
