By Arun Pratap Singh
Dehradun, 10 Jul: Polling was held in two assembly seats in Uttarakhand today, namely Manglaur (Haridwar) and Badrinath (Chamoli). As per the updates provided by the Election Commission by 5 p.m., 50.30 percent voting has been recorded in Badrinath and 67.52 percent in Manglaur assembly constituencies. Till 3 p.m., 40.05 percent voting was recorded in Badrinath while 56.21 percent voting was recorded in Manglaur.
It may be recalled that, in Badrinath, the main contest is between Rajendra Singh Bhandari of BJP and Lakhpat Butola of Congress, while in Manglaur, it is a triangular contest amongst Qazi Nizamuddin of Congress, Ubaidur Rahman of BSP and Kartar Singh Bhadana of BJP.
Polling was mostly peaceful in both the constituencies though there were reports of clashes between the supporters of Congress and the BJP in Libbarheri village of Manglaur constituency but the Police soon brought the situation under control and the polling continued peacefully thereafter. In Kisan Inter College Mundlana in Mangalore, some voters alleged deliberate slow voting by the polling officials. The voters claimed that they were standing in the queue since 9 a.m., but they were not able to exercise franchise even till 2:30 p.m. after which there was a ruckus there. The matter escalated so much that the police had to resort to a lathi charge. Earlier, there was a queue inside the college gate. After this, the police showed strictness and made the people stand outside. At the same time, heavy police force was deployed here due to the possibility of a ruckus.
The Congress had alleged firing in Libbarheri village which was strongly refuted as baseless by the district administration of Haridwar.
In the Mangalore assembly by-election, 44.10 percent voting was recorded till 1 p.m., whereas in Badrinath assembly, 34.50 percent voting had taken place. Till 11 a.m. 26 percent voting was reported in Manglaur and 21.2 percent in Badrinath.
After the fight and stone pelting at the booth in Libbarheri, voting resumed peacefully. As soon as the information of the case was received, the Haridwar administration reached the spot. BJP State President and Rajya Sabha MP Mahendra Prasad Bhatt cast his vote at the polling booth of his village in Pokhri Brahmin Thala.
It may be recalled that Manglaur seat fell vacant due to death of incumbent MLA Sarwat Karim Ansari of BSP, while the Badrinath seat fell vacant due to the resignation of incumbent Congress MLA Rajendra Singh Bhandari who joined the BJP and is now the BJP candidate from there.
