The largest election in history is being held in India, which on Monday will repeat voting at 11 polling places in the northeastern state of Manipur due to reports of violence and voting machine damage in the state torn by months of ethnic conflict, according to Reuters.
The chief electoral officer of Manipur said in a statement late on Saturday that the election officials had deemed the polling at the 11 places invalid and had ordered a new election.
In the nation with the largest population in the world, voting for the election that runs until June 1 began on Friday for about a billion voters. It is anticipated that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will get a rare third term due to factors including economic expansion, social welfare, and Hindu nationalism.
Alleging that voting booths were taken over and elections were manipulated, the major opposition Congress party had called for a repeat at 47 polling places in Manipur.
Friday saw scattered violent incidents around the state, including armed groups attempted takeovers of well-guarded polling places. A sizable turnout of voters cast ballots, even though there was a risk of violence, which has killed at least 220 people in the last year.
Since May, violence between the Kuki-Zo tribe and the Meitei majority started in Manipur. It is still split among a Meiteis-controlled valley and Kuki-dominated hills, with a no-man’s land area in between under surveillance by federal paramilitary troops.
