BJP candidate from Jharkhand's Dumka Lok Sabha seat, Sita Soren, has alleged irregularities in the voting process in the Dumka constituency on Saturday, June 1, and demanded repolling.
Sita Soren, the sister-in-law of jailed former chief minister Hemant Soren, claimed that the voting process was being intentionally delayed.
Dumka has been the traditional stronghold of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) patriarch Shibu Soren.
Sita Soren, who is also his daughter-in-law, was a long-time JMM member and three-time MLA from the Jama Assembly constituency. She joined the BJP in March claiming she was “neglected and isolated” in JMM.
She said she had visited several booths in Dumka urban and found irregularities. “I have informed the deputy commissioner in this regard. Inexperienced booth level officers (BLOs) have been deployed due to which electors are facing trouble," PTI quoted Soren as saying.
The delay was deliberate, she alleged, declaring she would write to the Election Commission to cancel the voting here and conduct repolling.
Soren raised the issue after receiving complaints from voters about delays at booth numbers 44 and 45.
Denying her allegations, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) K Ravi Kumar said polling was being conducted smoothly across the three Lok Sabha constituencies of Dumka, Rajmahal and Godda.
The INDIA bloc has fielded Nalin Soren, a seven-term JMM MLA from Sikaripara assembly constituency, against Sita Soren. Nalin cast his vote at booth 29 of the upgraded government middle school in Kathikund.