Itanagar, Dec 15 (UNI) Polling for the general elections to the Panchayat Raj Institutions (PRIs) and two municipal bodies in Arunachal Pradesh began on Monday amid tight security arrangements.
A total of 8,31,648 voters,including 7,59,210 in rural areas and 72,438 in urban areas, are eligible to exercise their franchise. Voting is underway at 2,171 polling stations for the Panchayat elections, 67 polling booths for the Itanagar Municipal Corporation (IMC), and 12 booths for the Pasighat Municipal Council (PMC), according to the State Election Commission (SEC).
Polling commenced at 7 am. While Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) are being used for the municipal elections, ballot boxes are in use for the Panchayat polls.
Polling will continue till 4 pm, and voters standing in queues at the closing time will be allowed to cast their votes after being issued voting slips, the SEC said.
In the two-tier Panchayat system, the state has 245 Zilla Parishad and 8,182 Gram Panchayat constituencies. The urban local bodies comprise 20 wards under IMC and eight seats under PMC.
As many as 59 Zilla Parishad constituencies have already been declared uncontested, with polling being held for the remaining 186 ZP seats. Similarly, in the Gram Panchayats, 5,857 out of 8,182 seats have been won uncontested, mostly by the ruling BJP, leaving 2,325 seats to be decided through polling.
In the state capital, voting is being conducted for 16 of the 20 IMC wards, as four wards were elected unopposed.
A total of 440 candidates are contesting the 186 Zilla Parishad seats, while 39 candidates are in the fray for the 16 IMC wards and 21 candidates for the eight PMC wards.
SEC Secretary Taru Talo informed that 13 Gram Panchayat constituencies received no nominations, while nominations in 14 constituencies were rejected during scrutiny.
Polling in the Dumba Singpho Gram Panchayat constituency has been countermanded following the death of a validly nominated candidate. Counting of votes will be held on December 20.
Polling for Arunachal rural and civic bodies underway amid tight security
