Manipur Outer LS seat records over 75% turnout

Imphal, April 11 (IANS) The voting in the reserved Manipur Outer Lok Sabha constituency ended on Thursday with over 75 per cent of the voters exercising their franchise and without any major incident, officials said.

After collecting data from some of the 28 Assembly constituencies in this Lok Sabha seat with 10,10,618 voters, officials said polling was more than 75 per cent. The figure might increase since reports from far-off polling stations were yet to be received, officials said.

Mediapersons covering the polls at Moreh, the border town, were not permitted to the polling stations despite they carrying relevant documents issued by the Election Commission (EC). The Border Security Force (BSF) personnel guarding the stations said they would not allow anyone inside without specific orders from their commanding officer.

There were reports of delay in start of polling in some hill areas like Saikul, Japhou and Sugnu. However, formal complaints were yet to be received, officials said.

Some social media posts claimed armed militants snatched electronic voting machines (EVMs) at some polling stations.

One polling officer in a hilly area was telephonically informed that he should close booths once polling reached 80 per cent.

Ashang Kasar, candidate of the North East India Development Party was warned by a militant group against visiting his home at Chadong in the Chandel district. However, he defied them to visit his village and also toured some polling stations with the help of security personnel.

Polling was peaceful in all the voting stations," he claimed.

Eight candidates are in the fray in this reserved constituency. The second phase of polling will be on April 18.