In an interesting turn of events, an FIR was lodged against a voter for allegedly destroying the EVM at S Ibobi Primary School under polling station 3/21 in Khurai Assembly Constituency in Manipur.
The voter, S Surajkumar of Khurai Thongam Leikai, was reportedly asked to cast a replacement vote after finding that his vote had already been cast by unknown individuals.
Speaking to the media, Surajkumar expressed concern over the entire issue and questioned how the authorities could file an FIR on a voter seeking to uphold the fundamental rights.
“The unexpected incident unfolded around 2.10 pm at the polling station opened in S Ibobi Primary School. The officials inside the polling station informed me that my vote had been casted already,” he said.
He stated that the presiding officer and the rest of the officials could not provide a valid answer when confronted.
“After hearing about the incident, enraged voters barged into the polling station and started destroying the EVM citing unfair polls,” he said. He pointed out that no polling officials were harmed during the incident, and alleged that the entire incident occurred because of their failure to uphold the electoral guidelines.
He condemned the FIR lodged against him and instead demanded authorities to conduct a re-poll of station 3/21. Because of the incident, several voters are yet to cast their votes, he added.
He further noted that a formal complaint had been filed to the deputy commissioner of Imphal East regarding the incident. Locals of Khurai Thongam Leikai cautioned that the residents would resort to intense agitations if authorities failed to conduct re-poll.
