SHILLONG, Feb 2: Amid allegations of irregularities in the election of the board members in the Shillong Club, the Board of Directors (BoDs) has expressed hope that the police investigation will divulge the truth.
“We are sure it (police probe) will clear the air on the election process of the Shillong Club which has been conducted with the same e-voting and OTP system for the last few years without any complaint from any quarter till now,” the BoDs said in a statement.
The BoDs maintained that Shakti Laitphlang, a member of the Club, has left no stone unturned to malign the image of the Shillong Club ever since his defeat in the elections held from November 17 to 20.
“At the start of the process of filing of nominations, Laitphlang’s nomination was rejected by the Election Committee on grounds of payment of a paltry amount through a post dated cheque and misrepresentation on the year of his induction as a club member,” they said.
According to them, the Election Committee, on reconsideration, reversed its decision and allowed Laitphlang to contest the elections on compassionate grounds.
The BoDs also observed that at no point of time before the elections and till the declaration of the results did Laitphlang raise any objection to the conduct of elections or to the online voting system which the Club had adopted few years ago.
“On the contrary, Laitphlang, after the acceptance of his nomination, demanded from the office the list of all members of the club along with their contact numbers. The list of members was provided by the then Board of Directors but not the personal details and mobile numbers of the members. In a bid to forcibly obtain the contact numbers of all members, he (Laitphlang) went to the extent of threatening the Club Administrator who subsequently filed a complaint against him to the Board,” they said.
Meanwhile, the BoDs also claimed that during the elections, Laitphlang managed to deceitfully obtain the contact numbers of the members and made numerous phone calls to the club members, seeking votes.
He (Laitphlang) had tried to obtain the OTP of the members, which is automatically generated by the system in members’ registered mobile, through deception, to enable him to misutilise the OTP and vote for himself, they said.
According to them, many verbal complaints against Laitphlang were received by the then BoDs and an advocate, who is a member of the Club, filed a written complaint, alleging misuse of his OTP for voting surreptitiously by Laitphlang.
“Subsequently, Mr Shakti lost the elections after the counting of votes on November 20, 2021. Unable to take his defeat, he started to intimidate the club by flooding the Board with various letters and demands. Mr Shakti even filed an FIR with the police, alleging malpractice and manipulation in the Club Elections. It was at a later date that the two complaints against Mr Shakti filed before the previous Board of Directors was brought to the notice of the newly elected Board of Directors,” they said.
“Mr. Shakti’s allegations in the press tried to exploit and instigate a communal angle against some of the Directors to further his agenda,” they added.
