Lanong to file complaint against polling officer

SHILLONG: UDP candidate from East Shillong, Bindo M Lanong has decided to file a complaint against a lady polling officer in St Edmund’s College after she behaved rudely with the senior politician of the state.
Lanong while recalling his experience with the lady officer said that he visited all the 36 polling stations in his constituency and St Edmund’s College was one of them.
“The lady presiding officer was very rude when I entered the polling station. We don’t enter polling station to create problems but to see if everything is alright and to know the trend but this lady almost physically chased me out, Lanong said.
According to him, he told the officer that he is leaving but the lady stepped out of her chair and said she does not know him and he replied that she does not need to know him but he is one of the candidates.
Lanong also alleged that as per his information, the presiding officer was allowing other candidates to enter the polling station, adding that the officer seems to be having leniency towards other candidates.
 Meanwhile, Lanong also expressed his dissatisfaction over the manner in which the election was conducted and even mentioned about EVMs malfunctioning in many polling stations. “We cannot take this lightly as we have already taken up the matter with the Election department and even the Election Commission should take note of this as it creates unnecessary doubts and suspicion and people lose their confidence on these machines,” Lanong added.
Congress’s Ampareen Lyngdoh also flagged similar problems. She alleged that a presiding officer in one of the booths at St Edmund’s did not allow candidates to meet polling officials and their respective volunteers. “This is not acceptable. As a candidate I have been given a pass to enter. Two candidates in the fray were not allowed to enter and I was told that they were rudely sent away by the presiding officer,” she said.