EMN
DIMAPUR, MAY 11
The NPCC said the conduct of re-polling at two polling stations Akhakhu and Naltoqa under 33 A/C Suruhuto where the voting percentage was at 31.25 percent and 41.37 percent respectively has vindicated the stand of the Congress that massive polling malpractices dominated the entire polling process for election to the 16th Lok Sabha in Nagaland Parliamentary Constituency.
It may be mentioned that the two re-polling stations had earlier polled more than 100 perecnt votes on April 9.
The low voting percentage in the re-poll in the two stations should put to rest speculations that the NPCC claims were misled, the NPCC said in a release today.
Indeed the NPF government and its workers across the State indulged in massive polling malpractices, it alleged.
The party was also critical of the RO for crediting high voter turnout to the Systematic Voter Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP) campaign on grounds that it contradicted the views of the state Chief Electoral Officer as published in media on March 27.
The CEO had stated that high voter turnout is due to proxy voting.
The NPCC also made serious allegations that EVMs were later found to be stuffed with random proxy voting by NPF workers in connivance with polling officials who choose to look the other way round. This was why 1334 out of 2058 (excluding Ladaigarh) polling stations polled over 90 percent votes despite the abysmal low polling in urban areas, the release added.
The NPCC also said the office of the RO had fallen short of its bounden duty by failing overall to prevent voters with multiple slips as recorded on CCTV footage and published in a prominent daily. It decried the alleged partisan and biased attitude of the RO and said the neutrality of the election machinery had been breached.
The NPCC reiterated that its intention was not to question the integrity of the RO but to demand a fair probe into the large scale polling malpractices. It said misconstruing the demand is a ploy to deviate from the main issue and added that the public will be the best judge on the credibility of the polling exercise that resulted in a record high voting percentage despite low turnout of the voters on the polling day.
The NPCC reiterated its earlier demand that re-polling be held in 1344 polling stations that polled over 90 percent and above votes since the low voting percentage in two re-polling stations vindicates its stand.
The NPCC further said it will continue to state that polling malpractices subverted the principles of free and fair elections and have made a mockery of democracy in the State.
