Repolling held peacefully at one polling booth in Chamarajanagar LS segment in Karnataka

Bengaluru: Repolling was held “peacefully” at a polling station in Indiganatha village of Hanur, which falls under Chamarajanagar Lok Sabha constituency in Karnataka on Monday, amid elaborate security arrangements, after a clash between groups on Friday resulted in damage to EVMs.

Polling began at 7 am and ended by 6 pm. Karnataka Chief Electoral Officer Manoj Kumar Meena told PTI, “Repolling was good, and it went peacefully. Almost 13.42 per cent votes have been cast.”

The repolling was ordered by the Election Commission following reports that electronic voting machines were damaged at the polling booth in Indiganatha village in Chamarajanagara district on April 26 during a clash between two groups of people over whether to vote or not in the Lok Sabha elections.

According to the district administration, the villagers had earlier decided to boycott the polls, citing lack of adequate infrastructure development. However, after assurances and efforts by the local officials, polling began.

As per preliminary information, one of the groups wanted to vote while the other was keen to boycott, leading to clashes between them during which they damaged EVMs, and also indulged in stone-pelting, the officials said.

In a letter addressed to the Karnataka chief electoral officer, the EC had stated that based on the reports submitted by the returning officer and general observer for Chamrajnagar constituency, and after taking all material circumstances into account, it declared that polling held at polling station number 146 under the Hanur assembly constituency on Friday was void.