ITANAGAR, Apr 22: The Janata Dal (United)’s candidate for the Daporijo assembly constituency in Upper Subansiri district, Dikto Yekar, has submitted a petition to the state chief electoral officer (CEO), demanding re-poll at the Soki/Doni polling station, alleging electoral malpractices by supporters of the BJP during the polling on 11 April.
In his petition, Yekar alleged that supporters of the BJP indulged in violence, proxy voting and voter intimidation.
The JD (U) candidate said that an inquiry was conducted by the district election officer (DEO) after a complaint had been lodged in this regard by his polling agents.
However, dissatisfied with the inquiry report, a mass protest was held in front of the DEO’s office on 18 April, he said, terming the report “very unfair, unfortunate and regrettable.”
Yekar alleged that the polling was conducted under the diktat and monopoly of one political party.
“There is no denial of the fact that the poll was conducted in the absence of the polling agents of the JD (U) and the INC, which clearly establishes that the poll was conducted freely under the diktat and total monopoly of one political party,” he said.
“Not only were the JD (U) and the INC polling agents forcefully driven out but also the election agent of the JD (U) was prevented from entering the polling station by the supporters of the BJP,” Yekar claimed.
He said that a record 321 votes, out of the total 323 electorates, were cast, registering a 99.38% voter turnout, which, he claimed, “is very unlikely and needs serious scrutiny and analysis.”
Yekar alleged that while a voter (Sl No 108) was physically assaulted, 17 others were stopped from exercising their voting rights.
He said the voters who were deprived of their voting rights have also lodged a complaint with the executive/judicial magistrate.
Yekar further said that the votes of five dead persons were also cast, and that the death certificates of those persons have been submitted to the CEO.