Madams,

Since the 1st Day of June 2010 till this day I have been as a lover of Democracy based on right to adult franchise, pained, and I hope every citizen of India who have also come across the same news on both print and electronic media including the National Papers, the news about the prevention of kom voters in both dampi and saiton khullen polling stations of the 20/sagang adc constituency on the repoll day i.e., on the 31st May 2010.

The fact that the said incident took place on a Re-poll day in full view of all the polling officers including the Presiding Officer and the security personnel’s and couple with the inaction on the part of R.O even when the matter was reported to her at 11 am even more pains my heart questioning about the strength of the Manipur Government who couldn’t open both the Bamboo and human barricade put up by the supporters of Ind. Candidate Tongminthang Lhungdim belonging to Kuki tribe. Who is to be responsible for the inaction mentioned above? Obviously the concerned R.O is responsible if the matter was not reported to the Government or the Government is responsible if the matter was reported to the Government in time.
If the R.O is responsible then she had committed the offence of dereliction of duty even questioning her connivance with the perpetrators of the said crime and for that our government should take action against her not only under service law but also under the criminal law of the country.

If the government is responsible then the mandate of the people to rule the state is at stake and it is a betrayal of the people for whom the government of the people by the people for the people i.e. the democratic form of government is guaranteed by the Constitution of India which is the Supreme Law of the country.

Relevant Law.  The above mentioned act of preventing the Kom voters including Polling Agents of INC candidate from entering the premises of the said polling stations to cast their vote amounts to booth capturing of both the polling stations mentioned above in as much as Explanation (c) of Rule 66 of the Manipur (Hill Areas) District Councils (Election of Members) Rules, 2009 is quoted her under:

66, Adjournment of poll or countermanding of election on the ground of booth capturing………..
Explanation:  For the purpose of this rule “booth capturing” includes, among other things, all or any of following activities, namely:-

(c) coercing or intimidating or threatening directly or indirectly any elector and preventing him from going to the polling station to cast his vote.

Hence your report about the two polling stations to be peaceful that too without reporting the booth capturing (without R.O going to the spot and without sending a duty magistrate on the fateful day) amounts to ignorance/wilful disregard of the above quoted provision of law which is shameful for the nation to have an R.O without being aware of the law of the election or disregarding the same even after more than 50 years of Independence and the framing of the Indian Constitution.

Yours faithfully,
Ch Victor
Khonghampat Awang Leikai, Imphal West