The returning officer (RO) of the Inner Manipur parliamentary constituency Naorem Parveen Singh on Saturday served a show cause notice to Manipur Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) spokesperson Khumkcham Joykishan for levelling an ‘unverified allegation’ against Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh.
According to reports, the RO has asked Joykishan to submit a written clarification within 48 hours on the receipt of the notice.
The personal secretary of the Manipur chief minister, Salam Rajen Singh, lodged a complaint to the Election Commission of India (ECI) stating that Joykishan’s ‘unverified’ allegation against N Biren Singh was in violation of the Model Code of Conduct.
Joykishan claimed that an amount of Rs 12, 90,000, which was supposedly meant for N Biren Singh, was paid to his younger brother N. Rajendra Singh by a man named James Gangte.
The MPCC spokesperson also claimed that the money was given for clearing of bills worth over Rs 68,00,000 of the Khuga Multipurpose Project.
He also alleged that the money was paid when N Biren Singh was the irrigation and flood control minister of Manipur.
Salam Rajen Singh alleged that Joykishan referred to his ‘unverified’ allegation to the Manipur chief minister while delivering speeches during poll campaign.
He also added that as per the Model Code of Conduct, no parties or workers can be criticised on the basis of ‘unverified’ allegations.
The personal secretary of the Manipur chief minister requested the ECI to take necessary action against Joykishan.
Manipur, where there are two parliamentary constituencies – Inner and Outer parliamentary constituencies – will go to polls on April 11 and 18 respectively.
There will be a total of 2,862 polling stations in Manipur this time. Out of these, 282 including 227 polling stations in Outer Manipur LS constituency and 56 polling stations in Inner Manipur LS constituency are critical and 225 including 171 in Outer Manipur LS constituency and 54 in Inner Manipur LS constituency are ‘vulnerable’.
