Repoll in 8 polling stations scheduled on April 24 in Arunachal Pradesh

OUR CORRESPONDENT

ITANAGAR: Election Commission of India has ordered re-polling in eight polling stations in Arunachal Pradesh on April 24, where EVM damages and violence were reported during polling to simultaneous Lok Sabha and Assembly polls on April 19.

The Commission in an order on Sunday declared the polling in the eight polling stations as void and ordered for fresh polling on April 24 from 6 AM to 2 PM, Chief Electoral Officer Pawan Kumar Sain told a press conference here on Monday.

The polling stations where re-poll would be held include, Sario in Bameng assembly constituency in East Kameng district, Longte Loth under Nyapin assembly seat in Kurung Kumey, Dingser, Bogiya Siyum, Jimbari and Lengi polling booths under Nacho constituency in Upper Subansiri district. Re-poll will also be held in Bogne and Molom polling booths under Rumgong assembly constituency in Siang district, the CEO said.

An estimated 82.71 percent of total 8,92,694 voters exercised their franchise on April 19 to elect 50 MLAs for the 60-member assembly in the northeastern state. The ruling BJP had already won ten assembly seats unopposed. The turnout in the Parliamentary polls in the state was recorded at 77.51 percent.

In the assembly polls, Changlang South and Kanubari constituencies recorded the highest turnout with 91 percent while the state capital recorded a low turnout of 33 percent, Sain said.

The fate of as many as 133 candidates contested in the assembly seats have been sealed in the EVMs, while 14 candidates contested for the two Lok Sabha seats.

In the Arunachal West Parliamentary seat, there were eight contestants including Union Earth Sciences Minister Kiren Rijiju and state Congress president Nabam Tuki. Sitting BJP MP Tapir Gao and state Congress vice-president Bosiram Siram are among the six candidates who contested from Arunachal East.

The BJP had fielded 60 candidates in all the assembly seats while the opposition Congress put up 19 nominees, National People’s Party (NPP) 20, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) 14 and the People’s Party of Arunachal 11.

There are also 14 independent candidates in the fray. The BJP won both Lok Sabha seats in the 2019 elections while in the assembly, the party bagged 41 seats. The JD (U) emerged victorious in seven, NPP in five, Congress in four while the PPA secured one seat and Independent candidates got two. Counting of votes for assembly elections would be held on June 2, while that of Lok Sabha polls would be done on June 4, respectively. 

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