Stage set for simultaneous Lok Sabha and Assembly polls in Arunachal Pradesh

ITANAGAR: Stage is set for simultaneous elections to Lok Sabha and assembly in Arunachal Pradesh on Friday as the Election Commission has made elaborate security arrangements in the frontier state.

Officials on Thursday said that voting for the two Lok Sabha seats - Arunachal West and Arunachal East - along with 50 assembly constituencies will be held on Friday under a tight security cover.

Of the total 60 assembly constituencies in the state, elections will be held in 50 seats as BJP candidates including Chief Minister Pema Khandu (Mukto seat) and Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein (Chowkham seat), have won unopposed in 10 seats. Election officials said that the first batch of over 40 election officials accompanied by security personnel along with election-related materials including Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), were airlifted by an MI-172 chopper to four remote polling stations in Arunachal Pradesh’s Kra Daadi district on April 15 to conduct voting on Friday.

However, the majority of the polling and security personnel left for their destinations on Wednesday and Thursday. In all, 11,130 polling officials have been deployed to conduct the elections while 6,874 Electronic Voting Machines will be used for the polls.

On the advice of the Election Commission, the Union Home Ministry has provided 80 companies (7500 personnel) of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) while thousands of state security force personnel have been deployed to maintain the law and order situation. A total of 8.92,694 voters, including 4,54,256 women, will decide the fate of 133 candidates contesting for the 50 assembly seats, and 14 candidates vying for the two Lok Sabha seats. Of the 133 candidates, 50 have been fielded by the ruling BJP, 19 by the opposition Congress, 14 by the Nationalist Congress Party (Ajit Pawar), 20 by the National People’s Party (NPP), 11 by the People’s Party of Arunachal and the remaining by the other local parties and Independents.

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