BJP sweeps rural, PMC polls in Arunachal; JD(U) puts up fight

OUR CORRESPONDENT

ITANAGAR: The BJP on Saturday wrested the Pasighat Municipal Council (PMC) from the Congress by winning six of the eight seats of the civic body in Arunachal Pradesh, while the JD(U), in its maiden contest in the Itanagar Municipal Corporation polls, bagged nine wards, securing the second spot in the tally after the saffron camp. However in the Bordumsa-Diyun segment in Changlang district, the Independents won.

The ruling BJP in the State, won 10 seats, one short of the majority, in the 20-member Itanagar Municipal Corporation (IMC) and the NPP bagged one.

Among the 10 seats won by the BJP in the Itanagar civic body polls, five candidates were elected unopposed, State Election Commission (SEC) Secretary Nyali Ete told reporters here.

For the first time, a total of 12 female candidates won the urban local bodies' poll in the State including, seven from the IMC and five from the PMC, said the official.

Among the prominent candidates in the IMC polls, Tame Phassang, BJP National Council Member and advisor to Chief Minister Pema Khandu and JD (U) State unit president Ruhi Tagung won from Ward 17 and 8.

The Congress, which had won seven seats in the 2013 PMC elections, secured only two wards this time, and the party failed to open its account in the IMC polls.

The performance of the Janata Dal-United in the civic polls assumes significance as the party, received a major jolt in Arunachal Pradesh, with six of its seven MLAs shifting allegiance to the ruling BJP.

The JD(U), led by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, won seven of the 15 seats it contested in the 2019 Arunachal assembly elections and emerged as the second-largest party after the BJP, which had bagged 41 seats.

The PMC had 12 seats while the IMC had 30 during the 2013 civic polls. However, the number of seats of both the urban local bodies was reduced after delimitation of wards.

The Congress had won seven seats in the last PMC polls, the BJP bagged two and independent candidates emerged victorious in three.

The Congress managed to secure 21 seats in the 2013 IMC elections, followed by the NCP (4), the BJP (3) while People's Party (NPP) of Arunachal and an Independent won one each. The saffron party also clinched absolute majority in the panchayat polls by winning 121 Zila Parishad Member (ZPM) out of 137 seats, which results were declared so far, while the saffron party also bagged 2, 688 seats of Gram Panchayat Members (GPM) out of total 8215.

In the ZPM elections, Independent candidate won seven seats so far followed by NPP (5), and two each by JD(U) and PPA.

Independent candidates also performed significantly in GPM election with 326 seats in their kitty, while the NPP won in 175 seats, Congress (133), JD(U) in 49 and PPA 8 seats respectively.

Results of 103 ZPM seats are still awaited while elections to the ZPM seat at Vijaynagar in Changlang district and Hawai North in Anjaw district were kept in abeyance.

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