The Election Commission of India (ECI) has ordered re-polling in eight polling stations in Arunachal Pradesh where EVM damage and violence were reported during polling to simultaneous Lok Sabha and Assembly polls on April 19, an official said. The polling stations where repoll would be held include, Sario in Bameng assembly constituency in East Kameng district, Longte Loth under Nyapin assembly seat in Kurung Kumey, Dingser, Bogiya Siyum, Jimbari and Lengi polling booths under Nacho constituency in Upper Subansiri district. Re-poll will also be held in Bogne and Mol.
Re-polling is underway today in 11 booths in the Inner Manipur parliamentary constituency after incidents of violence were reported at some of the polling booths in conflict-torn Manipur where some criminals opened fire and even destroyed EVMs. "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 said. The repolling began at 7 am.
The Manipur Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) had declared that re-polling would be held at the 11 polling booths of the inner Manipur Lok Sabha seat. This decision was made following a directive from the Election Commission of India (ECI), which declared the initial polls held on April 19 as void. Security has been strengthened to curb incidents of violence that were reported on April 19.
The state saw a voter turnout of 69.18 per cent till 7 pm on Friday. According to CEO's 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."
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah are set to address election rallies in in Chhattisgarh over the next three days. Shah will address a public meeting in Kanker Lok Sabha constituency in the Bastar region on Monday, according to BJP state media co-in-charge Anurag Agrawal. PM Modi will address campaign rallies on April 23 and 24 in Sarguja, Mahasamund, and Janjgir-Champa Lok Sabha constituencies, he added.
Voting will be conducted for Rajnandgaon, Mahasamund, and Kanker seats in the second phase on April 26. Shah landed at Swami Vivekanand Airport in Raipur on yesterday evening and chaired a discussion between party leaders at the state BJP headquarters.
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