Elections for local bodies across Arunachal Pradesh on December 22

A CORRESPONDENT

ITANAGAR: The Arunachal Pradesh State Election Commission (SEC), on Thursday, announced that the already much-delayed State Panchayat Raj Institutions (PRIs) and Municipal body elections will be held in a single phase on December 22.

Addressing media persons at the Dorjee Khandu State Conventional Hall here, State Election Commissioner Hage Kojeen said that the election which was supposed to be held earlier in the month of April/May this year was pulled off due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

He also said that the SEC was fully prepared to conduct the local body elections much earlier. But due to the amendment process of the existing Acts & Rules for conversion of the three-tier Panchayat system to two-tier as required under 73rd Amendment of Indian constitution, the election was delayed.

"This will be the first general election after the conversion from the three-tier Panchayati system to the two-tier system in the State. It is also the first time in the history of Panchayat elections in the State where 27 election observers— one for each district — will be deployed by the Commission," said Kojeen.

Kojeen further said that the notification for the election will be issued on November 24; and the last date for filing of nominations will be December 2. Scrutiny of the nomination papers will take place on December 4. The last date for withdrawal of nomination is December 7.

"The votes will be counted on December 26 and the election process will have to be completed by December 31," said Kojeen, adding that the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) will come into force from the date of announcement of the elections.

He also said that the ballot boxes will be used for PRIs election whereas Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) will be in use for Municipal bodies' election.

Kojeen added, "To ensure free, fair and peaceful conduct of election, control rooms will be set up at different levels such as Police Headquarters (PHQs), SEC, District Election Offices etc to monitor the election throughout its period."

The SEC also said that besides the deployment of 27 election observers — one for each district including two municipal bodies— the Commission will also engage more than 40,000 police personnel during the election process.

"We urge all the stakeholders including the State Government and political parties to abide by the MCC (MOdel Code of Conduct) specified by the SEC and cooperation to ensure that the elections are held successfully by properly enforcing the COVID-19 SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures)," said Kojeen, adding that the necessary training for the election officials will be organized at the district level.

Further, Kojeen informed that separate SoP guidelines have been issued by the SEC after a review meeting with all the District Educational Officers (DEOs) via video conferencing . These SOPs will have to be followed during the election process to contain the spread of COVID-19. "Those found violating the guidelines shall be liable to legal action under Disaster Management Act-2005. Dr L. Jampa of the Health Department shall act as the State Nodal Officer (SNO) for the district-level monitoring of the COVID-19 situation during the entire election period," added Kojeen.

The total electorate for both PRIs and Municipal bodies in the State are 7,39,284. A total of 2,175 polling stations have been set up by the Commission for 25 Zilla Parishads (ZPs) with 241 Zilla Parishad Councils (ZPCs), 2,215 Gram Panchayats (GPs) with 8436 Gram Panchayat Constituencies (GPCs), and two Municipal bodies namely Itanagar Municipal Corporation with 20 wards and Pasighat Municipality with eight wards.

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