Imphal: The father of an NPP candidate in Manipur’s Andro village was shot at and injured after unidentified assailants opened fire on Friday.
Police said the incident took place at the gate of L Sanjoy Singh, a candidate of the Conrad K Sangma-led NPP in the ensuing 12th Manipur Assembly election, 2022, when Sanjoy, his father and some supporters were having an election-related discussion.
Unidentified assailants opened fire and the candidate’s father was hit on the right shoulder, the deputy chief minister, Y Joykumar Singh also an NPP leader, said.
Meghalaya Chief Minister and NPP president Conrad Sangma met the injured person at a hospital here during the day and strongly condemned the incident.
“This is a very unfortunate incident, and it reflects the frustration of certain individuals. We will meet the Chief Electoral Officer and express our concern over the prevailing situation this election. I have been campaigning in Manipur since 2002, and I have never seen such extreme poll violence. This has to stop,” Sangma told reporters.
Joykumar Singh said that more such incidents have taken place, and poll violence has become a norm.
“The current trend suggests that the election is not going to be free and fair. Hence, we would demand additional deployment of paramilitary forces,” he said. With agency inputs
