Voting begins for 50 assembly segments, 2 LS seats in Arunachal

Itanagar: Polling for the two Lok Sabha seats and 50 assembly constituencies began in Arunachal Pradesh on Friday, amidst a massive security blanket.

In the 60-member assembly, the BJP has already won 10 constituencies unopposed.

The polling which began at 7 AM will continue till 5 PM, the CEO informed.

An estimated 8,92,694 voters, including 4,54,256 women, will exercise their franchise and decide the electoral fate of 133 candidates in the assembly polls and 14 Lok Sabha poll contestants.

In the Arunachal West parliamentary seat, eight candidates are in the fray, 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 are contesting from the Arunachal East Lok Sabha constituency.

The Election Commission has declared a holiday enabling the people to exercise their adult franchise.

Elaborate security arrangements have been made to conduct peaceful polling in the state with deployment of 70 companies of central armed police forces (CAPF), including India Reserve Battalion, and state police personnel, state Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Pawan Kumar Sain said.

The state election authorities have arranged temporary shelters with all basic facilities in the polling booths where people can wait, keeping in view IMD’s forecast of moderate to heavy rains in the northeastern state.

The Election Commission has also arranged special facilities for 5,596 persons with disability (PwD), including transportation to polling booths and installation of ramps, the CEO said.

The BJP won both Lok Sabha constituencies in 2019, while in the assembly, the party bagged 41 seats. The JD(U) emerged victorious in seven, the NPP in five, and Congress in four. The PPA secured one seat and two Independent candidates won.

Counting of votes for assembly elections will be held on June 2, while that of Lok Sabha polls is on June 4.