The people will never accept the shifting of Polling Station 31/1(A) of Thoubal assembly constituency from Leingoijil Upper Primary School to Leigoijil Community Hall, said Imam of Imdadiya Masjid Moulana Naki Masood on Sunday.
Drawing the attention of the authorities concerned, he said that attempts are being made by some vested interest groups to transfer the polling station for their political gain. For the past 40 years, the people have been casting their votes at Leingoijil Upper Primary School as the polling station, he said. He was speaking in a press meet held at Thoubal Moijing Mina Bazar.
He said that the polling station has been used to cast votes mainly for the voters of Moijing Leingoijil.
Unfortunately, a few people with their vested interests have been trying to shift the pooling both to a community hall which has no security and is surrounded by broken walls, he added. These attempts are made against the wishes of around 80 per cent of the voters, it added.
He reminded that during every election, the polling station usually comes under some kind of conflict. In the past MP election, a re-poll was carried out, and a ‘disturbed area’ was repeatedly announced, he said. If the polling station is shifted, the voters would have to walk a distance of 1.5 kilometres, he added.
President of Manipur Panchayat Parishad Md Abdul Latif who is also a member of Leishangthem Zilla Parishad in a meeting held regarding rationalisation at the office of DC Thoubal, had remarked that Leigoijil Community Hall is not fit to be a polling station, he said.
He appealed to the authority concerned to look into the matter and stop the attempts to forcefully shift the polling station.
