EVMs arrive for by polls in 7 ACs

By Our Staff Reporter
IMPHAL, Jul 29 : Preparation for the by-elections to seven Assembly Constituencies has begun with the arrival of electronic voting machines (EVMs) to be used.
At least 1,140 M-3 EVMs  and 1,140 VVPAT (Voter-Verified Paper Audit Trail) systems reached Imphal from Assam late yesterday, said sources.
It may be noted that by-elections are likely to be held late this year for the Assembly Constituencies of Henglep, Tamenglong, Naoriya Pakhanglakpa, Andro, Kumbi, Lamlai and Kakching.
The seats have been vacated after some MLAs resigned and others were disqualified recently on anti-defection ground by the Speaker's Tribunal of the Manipur Legislative Assembly.
Three BJP MLAs, TT Haokip (Henglep), Samuel Jendai (Tamenglong) and Soibam Subhaschandra (Naoriya Pakhanglakpa) had resigned last month. It may be noted here that S Subhaschandra had recently filed a police complaint alleging he was kept "confined" at a Congress camp and "forced" to resign as MLA. The High Court is hearing the case.
On the other hand, Congress elect, then Minister of Environment in the BJP led Government, Th Shyamkumar of Andro AC was disqualified by the Speaker's Tribunal following the intervention of the Supreme Court.
Congress MLAs, Ksh Biren of Lamlai AC, Y Surchandra of Kakching AC and S Bira of Kumbi AC were disqualified under the anti-defection law by the Speaker's Tribunal hours before the Rajya Sabha poll on June 19 which elected Leishemba Sanajaoba to the lone seat of Manipur.
Meanwhile, a case regarding disqualification of Thanga Assembly Constituency AITC MLA T Robindro is pending before the High Court.
As the poll preparation begins, in view of the COVID-19 situation, the Election Commission has advised all polling stations to be divided with more than 10,000 voters into two to avoid crowding. This direction has been passed on to the Deputy Commissioners of the respective districts to identify the polling stations and take up necessary steps to divide the stations, said the sources.