Staff Reporter
ITANAGAR, Apr 27: The BJP candidate for the Daporijo assembly constituency in Upper Subansiri district, Tanyia Soki, on Saturday requested the Election Commission of India to announce fresh polls at the Sikarijo, Yekar and Jeke polling stations, claiming “gross violation of electoral process” at those polling stations.
Addressing a press conference at Arunachal Press Club here, Soki alleged that the Janata Dal (United)’s candidate and his workers resorted to violence, intimidation and booth capturing during the election held on 11 April.
He claimed that the JD (U) engaged “goons” to intimidate, assault and capture booths during the polling at the three polling stations.
One individual sustained grievous injury in the violence and is now undergoing operation in a city-based hospital, Soki said.
He also claimed that besides casting proxy and double votes, the JD (U) let its workers cast votes in the names of seven dead persons – four in Sikarijo and three in Dulom.
Describing the allegations levelled against him by JD (U) candidate Dikto Yekar as “false and baseless,” Soki said the allegation that he had spent two hours inside the Soki polling station could not be true since he visited all 19 polling stations, “thus leaving no time to spare at a single polling station.”
Soki also denied the claim of violence having occurred at the Soki polling station, saying that he came to know about the claim only during the scrutiny process on 14 April. He added that the returning officer-cum-deputy commissioner had also dismissed the claims as being “not genuine.”
Soki said the initial and the re-verified reports by the election officials also mentioned that the polling in Soki had been conducted peacefully.
Regarding the claim that 17 voters were denied their right to vote by BJP workers, Soki said three out of the 17 voters who claimed to have been denied their voting rights had cast double votes. He also expressed doubt whether the claims of the remaining voters were genuine.
Soki said three individuals among the 17 – Nyabin Soki, Yamik Yekar Soki and Nyayar Soki – cast double votes.
Stating that the BJP workers never barred anyone from casting their votes, Soki said Nyabin Soki, who had been engaged as the JD (U)’s polling agent, left the Soki polling station after casting his vote “because he had to double cast his vote at the Sikarijo polling station too.”
