Peacefull re-polling in Manipur

Guwahati - Re-polling at 34 polling booths in five hill districts of Manipur was conducted Saturday without any violent incident, an official said.

"Eight polling booths of Chandel district witnessed the highest 82 percent polling while nine polling booths of Ukhrul recorded 72.08 percent of voter-turnout. The five polling booths in Churachandpur district registered 58.99 percent polling," Manipur chief electoral officer P.C. Lawmkunga told IANS.

"Polling was peaceful and we have not received any reports of violence so far," he said.

Reports from the other two districts -- Senapati (eight polling booths) and Tamenglong (four polling booths) -- were awaited as polling at some booths was still continuing, the official said.

Re-polling at 34 polling booths in the five hill districts was ordered by the Election Commission of India (ECI) after violence was witnessed in these districts during the Jan 28 poll.

According to Lawmkunga, the polling stations where re-poll was conducted were categorized as hyper-sensitive and additional security arrangements were made.

"The ECI had instructed to arrange for additional security for the 34 polling booths going for re-polling and accordingly a total of 93 companies of para-military forces had been deployed there," said Lawmkunga.