ES Newsdesk

Itanagar, Dec 22: Arunachal Pradesh witnessed a voter turnout of 25 % in the first five hours of voting in the PR segment and 30 % for the two urban local bodies of Itanagar Municipal Corporation (IMC) and Pasighat Municipal Council (PMC) on Tuesday, although voting turnout increased as the day progressed.
Voting began at 7 am with election officials and voters adhering to COVID-19 protocols. Although the turnout of voters was moderate in the morning as chilly weather conditions kept most people indoors, polling percentage picked up as the day progressed, State Election Commission (SEC) Deputy Secretary Habung Lampung informed. A total of 4,89,423 voters were eligible to exercise their franchise at 1,472 polling stations to elect members for 141 Zilla Parishad seats and 1,702 gram panchayat segments and 23 councillors for two urban local bodies of the IMC and PMC. Electronic voting machines (EVMs) were used for the two civic bodies elections and ballot papers for the panchayats.
Safety protocols like wearing masks, maintaining social distancing inside the polling booths and sanitisation were strictly followed, the State Election Commission (SEC) official said. More than 8,000 security personnel, including nine companies of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), besides 7,517 state policemen were deployed for the elections which had as many as 258 hyper-sensitive and 536 sensitive polling stations.
Altogether 6,500 candidates in 99 Zilla Parishad seats and 6,401 gram panchayats have already won without any contest. Of the 20 seats of IMC, five candidates from the ruling BJP have been elected unopposed and the capital voters have decided the fate of 36 candidates- 15 from BJP, 14 from Janata Dal United, four from National People's Party (NPP) and three from the Congress- for the remaining 15 wards of the IMC.
Meanwhile, seventeen candidates were in the fray for eight seats of the PMC, where the BJP and the Congress are contesting in all wards and the NPP in one. Elections are not being held in the Dibang Valley district as all the segments in both Zilla Parishad and Gram Panchayat have been won by the ruling party unopposed, State Election Commissioner Hage Kojeen. East Siang is the only district where elections are being held in all the 120 polling stations, he added.
At least 110 Gram Panchayat segments in the state have fallen vacant due to various reasons. The SEC will take a final decision on conducting the by-elections to these seats after the current election process is over. Counting of votes will take place on December 26.

Capital witnesses smooth polls with 55% turnout 

Denizens of the Capital Complex today participated in the Itanagar Municipal Corporation election today with remarkable enthusiasm for choosing corporators in the 15 wards of the IMC.

Kenter Joya Riba

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