Indian election authorities have opened multiple polling stations in the troubled northeastern state of Manipur after armed groups stormed and seized polling stations despite the presence of dozens of paramilitary soldiers. ordered authorities to redo the vote.
The state of Manipur has been enduring ethnic strife for months after a dispute erupted over who can claim tribal status, which grants special privileges such as preferential treatment in government jobs.
The conflict, which began last May, has effectively divided the region of about 3 million people, pitting two ethnic groups against each other. Most of them are the Hindu Maiti tribe, who form a narrow majority, but are opposed by the Kuki tribe, a Christian hill tribe. More than 200 people were killed, including members of both groups. Thousands of internally displaced people remain in squalid camps, fearful of returning to the places they once called home.
The Election Commission of India announced on Saturday that the 11 polling stations where voting took place on Friday would hold voting again on Monday.
The order came after the region’s top elections official sent a letter to the agency describing mob violence, shootings, damage to electronic voting machines and fake voters entering polling places.
Video footage from the Inner Manipur constituency, one of the two seats in the state’s lower house, showed mobs storming polling stations and destroying electronic voting machines.
Members of an armed group were seen intimidating voters at another station. one woman said: When she arrived to vote, she discovered that her entire family’s votes had already been cast. One person was also injured in the shooting.
Tens of thousands of soldiers have been deployed to prevent violence across the country as voting to choose the country’s next prime minister continues until June 1. Locals in Manipur said the soldiers tried to maintain order but were overwhelmed by the throng of people, mostly women, at polling stations and intimidated by the presence of armed men.
Members of opposition political groups say the problem is not limited to the 11 polling stations that will be redone and are calling for fresh voting at more than 45 polling stations in 12 districts in Manipur.
Keshyam Meghachandra, a top leader of the opposition Indian National Congress in Manipur, said that members of armed groups supporting the current government threatened candidates and voters, even opening fire at polling stations on the eve and on the day of the election. Stated.
“It was massive collusion,” Meghachandra said. “The violence occurred in a place where a majority of voters are dissatisfied with both the local government and the Modi government.”
Manipur is run by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party, headed by Nonthombam Biren Singh. An adviser to Mr. Singh, the state’s chief minister, did not answer calls on Sunday.
The first phase of voting was held across India on Friday in 102 seats, with six phases remaining and the results expected to be announced on June 4.
