“They tried to snatch the ballot box. A huge mob attacked us and our vehicles. To escape from the mob, my escort Akoijam Bamkim blank fired” which was a felt necessity at the moment, said the statement forwarded to the president, Bharatiya Janata Party, Manipur Pradesh by Manoharmayum Barish Sharma and two others.
TFM Report
In what could be termed as pre-poll violence, several shots were fired in the air by a man in a SUV making attempts to rush out of the BJP district office venue located at Bishnupur. The incident took place as the pre-poll opinion poll oragnised by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Manipur Pradesh concluded on Friday. The pre-poll opinion was organised in an effort to assess the moods of party workers and leaders in the districts of Manipur, said sources.
According to a BJP member who was present at the venue, tension prevailed during the opinion poll as many people who came to the venue were prevented from participating in the exercise. The member told TFM that “those who wanted to barge in and participate in the poll failed to prove that they were active party members. Most of these people who wanted to take part in the opinion poll belonged to those who recently joined the BJP. But they could not produce any authentic documents to prove that they were active BJP party members or mandal officials.”
Another source who did not want to be identified alleged that the “shots were fired from the vehicle being used by the President, Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) Manoharmayum Barish Sharma who was there to oversee the conduct of the opinion poll as returning officer of 
Moirang and Bishnupur Assembly Constituencies. The way the shots were fired from inside the vehicle took everyone present by surprise. What is even more appalling was the way how the police personnel stood there shocked by the incident”. He said that such actions were not expected from BJP party workers or anyone associated with BJP as “there was no need to showcase inner party tussle in the district”. The same source also questioned the way how the opinion poll was conducted and the schedule of which was notified only on Thursday, just one day ahead of the opinion poll.
In the video being widely circulated in the social media, one could see the man firing and rushing out of the venue. The vehicle was being chased by those who were present there followed by the armed police personnel who seemed not ready to handle the situation. There were unconfirmed reports of a women who fainted on hearing the shots and others who sustained minor injuries.
Barish Sharma and two others clarify on firing
Meanwhile, in a letter forwarded to the president, Bharatiya Janata Party, Manipur Pradesh on the Bishnupur incident, Manoharmayum Barish Sharma, BJYM president and RO of Moirang and Bishnupur Assembly constituencies and two others – L Deven Singh, BJP general secretary, Manipur Pradesh and said that the incident happened after they opposed “the list of voters” that brought to them for the BJP opinion poll.
A statement signed by three mentioned above said that Pukhrem Sharatchandra Singh MLA Moirang A/C insisted that the RO and the official should approve the “voter list”. Based on this there were an argument between the MLA’s workers and Manoharmayum Barish Sharma.
“They tried to snatch the ballot box. A huge mob attacked us and our vehicles. To escape from the mob, my escort Akoijam Bamkim blank fired” which was a felt necessity at the moment, said the statement.