Bengaluru: Election Commission of India on Saturday ordered re-polling in Idiginatha polling booth 146 of Hanur taluk in Chamarajanagar district following the polling booth came under attack from the villagers of Idiginatha and Manadre villages on Friday when voting was held. Now, the re-polling will be held on Monday from 7 am to 6 pm.
It may be recalled here that villagers of Idginatha and Mandare went on a rampage and ransacked the electronic voting machine among other equipment in protests against the police lathi charge on them.
Besides, Tashildhar Guruprasad, Inspector Jagadeesh, polling officer Mary, Panchayat Development Officer Kiran and others came under attack from the villagers who pelted stones at them. A police constable was reportedly assaulted by the villagers.
Prior to villagers ransacking the polling booth, villagers of Idiginatha and Manadre had boycotted voting on Friday and when officials concerned visited Mandare and convinced voters to cast their rights. Learning that Mandare villagers had agreed to vote, villagers of Idiginatha were upset over some voters of Mandare going to the polling station.
This led to an argument near the polling station before police resorted to lathi charge to disperse the crowd. Both Idiginatha and Mandare boycotted voting to official apathy to ensure basic amenities for them, especially drinking water.
Chamarajanagar is a reserved seat for Scheduled Castes. In the fray from the Congress party is Sunil Bose son of Minister for Social Welfare H.C. Mahadevappa and Bharatiya Janata Party has fielded former MLA Balaraj. On Friday, Chamarajnagar recorded a voting percentage of 76.59.
