Denied voting rights, villagers in Mairang slam authorities

SHILLONG, Feb 21: Over 40 residents of Lad Meri village under Mairang constituency in Eastern West Khasi Hills were denied the right to exercise their franchise for the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council election on Friday. The voters, unaware that their designated polling station had been changed, arrived at their regular polling station—only to find it deserted.
“For the past 39 years, we’ve voted at this polling station, whether for MLA, MDC, or MP elections. But today, there was nothing there—no polling booth and no officials,” lamented a frustrated villager.
Accusing the district administration of failing to inform them about the change in their polling station, he questioned why the villagers were not allowed to exercise their franchise.
The residents claimed they neither received prior notice from the DC or BDO nor any voter’s slip or electoral roll was released to them.
Out of the three villages in the area totalling around 600 voters, two villages were informed of the change—while Lad Meri residents were allegedly left in the dark.
Following the uproar, Eastern West Khasi Hills District Deputy Commissioner Anita Kharpor issued a clarification, stating that the polling station had to be relocated due to the deteriorating condition of the school where the polling station was set up on earlier occasions.
She insisted that all residents were informed of the change. “By 3 pm, 535 voters had already cast their votes at the new location, and six out of the 40 who claimed they couldn’t vote had, in fact, done so,” she added.
Poll boycott
In an act of defiance, the residents of Tangnub village in East Jaintia Hills District boycotted the JHADC polls on Friday. The polling station in Tangnub remained eerily silent, with not a single voter turning up throughout the day.
The village headman, Alfund Sutnga confirmed that the boycott was a deliberate decision taken by the residents over the JHADC’s refusal to consider their demand to keep the village in Sutnga-Nongkhlieh constituency. Following the delimitation of constituencies, Tangnub village was tagged with the Saipung-Nongkhlieh constituency.