Strap: 14 Independent candidates in the fray, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Pawan Kumar Sain said
ITANAGAR, March 31: A total of 133 candidates are in the fray for the 50 assembly constituencies in Arunachal Pradesh, which will go to the polls on April 19, officials said on Sunday.
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The ruling BJP has already won 10 seats of the 60-member assembly uncontested. Among those won are Chief Minister Pema Khandu, and two first-time candidates — Ratu Techi from Sagalee and Hage Appa of the Ziro-Hapoli seat.
The BJP has fielded candidates in all the 50 seats that are going to the polls, while the opposition Congress is fighting in only 19 seats.
The Meghalaya-based NPP has fielded candidates in 20 seats, the NCP is fighting 14 seats, the People’s Party of Arunachal (PPA) is contesting 11 seats, the Arunachal Democratic Party has fielded candidates in four seats, while the Lok Janashakti Party (LJP) is fighting one seat.
Also, there are 14 Independent candidates in the fray, Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Pawan Kumar Sain said.
A total of 80 nominees are first-time candidates. The highest number of first-time candidates has been fielded by the Congress. Of its 19 candidates, 17 are new.
BJP has fielded 14 new candidates, while the NPP has nominated 16 first-time nominees.
Among the candidates, there are eight women — the highest in any assembly election in the state, though it’s dismally low compared to other parts of the country. The BJP has fielded four women, while the Congress has fielded three, and there is also a female Independent candidate.
The assembly polls in the state will be held along with the Lok Sabha elections.
A total of 14 candidates are fighting for the two Lok Sabha seats in the state. Eight candidates are in the fray for the Arunachal West constituency and six candidates for the Arunachal East seat.
A total of 8,86,848 people are eligible to vote in the simultaneous elections.
There are a total of 2,226 polling booths in the state, and of them, 228 could be reached only on foot.
A total of 480 polling booths are in the shadow areas, where mobile or connectivity is an issue, while 588 booths have been identified as critical and 443 as vulnerable, the CEO said.
“Polling station No 2-Pumao Primary School in Longding assembly constituency has the highest number of voters at 1,462, while the Malogam temporary structure in Malogam village in Hayuliang constituency has only one voter,” he said.
Polling station No 18-Luguthang in Mukto constituency in Tawang district is the highest polling station in the state, located at an altitude of 13,383 ft, he added.
Counting of votes for assembly polls would be held on June 2, while the votes polled for the Lok Sabha constituencies would be counted on June 4 along with the rest of the country. (PTI)
