Arunachal Pradesh: 25 per cent polling in panchayat, 30 per cent in civic elections till noon

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ITANAGAR

A voter turnout of 25 per cent was recorded in the first five hours of panchayat elections in Arunachal Pradesh on December 22, while 30 per cent of electors exercised their franchise for polls for two urban local bodies, an official said.

Voting began at 7 am with election officials and voters adhering to COVID-19 protocols, he said.

4,89,423 voters are eligible to exercise their franchise at 1,472 polling stations to elect members for 141 Zilla Parishad seats and 1,702 gram panchayat segments and 23 councillors for two urban local bodies- Itanagar Municipal Corporation (IMC) and Pasighat Municipal Council (PMC).

Safety protocols like wearing masks, maintaining social distancing inside the polling booths and sanitisation are being followed, the State Election Commission (SEC) official said.

Over 8,000 security personnel, including nine companies of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), besides 7,517 state policemen have been deployed for the elections.

Voters will decide the fate of 36 candidates- 15 from BJP, 14 from Janata Dal United, four from National People’s Party (NPP) and three from the Congress- for remaining 15 wards of IMC, he said.

Seventeen candidates are in the fray for eight seats of PMC, where the BJP and the Congress are contesting in all wards and the NPP in one.

Counting of votes will take place on December 26. (PTI)

(Edited by Christopher Gatphoh)