Despite incessant rainfall, Manipur recorded a whopping 85 per cent turnout on the second phase of polling on Wednesday. The 7.39 lakh strong electorate witnessed polling, amid heavy security, in the three valley districts of Imphal (East), Imphal (West) and Bishnupur on Wednesday. At several booths, polling went on well beyond the 3.30 pm deadline fixed by the Election Commission.EVM malfunction was reported from some booths early in the day and a total of 14 machines had to be replaced before polling began. There were also some instances of the BSF misinterpreting security related regulations. The central paramilitary force has been deployed in 181 hyper sensitive and 646 sensitive polling stations in 29 constituencies. At Sanjenbam polling station in Bishnupur district’s Nambol constituency, BSF jawans turned away several voters claiming irregularities in their identification documents. In the absence of voter ID cards, local municipalities have issued a certificate confirming the holder's status as an eligible voter. “We’re checking if the certificate number and the serial number match. If they don’t, we don’t allow the person,” said a BSF personnel on duty. However, BSF DIG (Koirengei) said the BSF jawans on duty were only responsible for providing security and checking for weapons.The Manipur People’s Party candidate from Nambol, former Union Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports Th Chaoba Singh complained to the EC-appointed observer visiting the booth about the incident. Additional Chief Electoral Officer PK Singh said he had not heard of the Sanjenbam incident. “The voter signs on the certificate in the presence of the issuing authority, and then signs in the presence of the returning officer at the booth. The signatures should match. Certificate, serial number etc are not considered.”
