74% turnout in Arunachal Pradesh repolls

OUR CORRESPONDENT

Itanagar: An estimated 74 percent turnout was recorded in the re-polling at eight polling stations in four assembly constituencies of Arunachal Pradesh, which was conducted on Wednesday amid elaborate security arrangements, an official said.

The polling, which began at 6 a.m., ended at 2 p.m. However, the percentage is likely to go up as hundreds of voters are still standing in lines to cast their votes after the presiding officers in their respective polling booths issued tickets to them before 2 p.m., the official said.

There are a total of 4,469 registered voters at the eight polling stations.

The repolling was necessitated following reports of violence, including damage to electronic voting machines (EVMs), during the simultaneous Lok Sabha and assembly elections in the northeastern state on April 19, he said.

The Election Commission ordered repolling to Sario under the Bameng assembly constituency in East Kameng district, Longte Loth in the Nyapin segment in Kurung Kumey, and Bogne and Molom booths under the Rumgong seat in Siang.

Dingser, Bogiya Siyum, Jimbari, and Lengi under the Nacho constituency in Upper Subansiri are also on the list of booths where repolling was conducted, Chief Electoral Officer Pawan Kumar Sain said.

Elaborate security arrangements were made for the repolling. Inspector General of Police (Law & Order) Chukhu Apa was stationed at Daporijo in Upper Subansiri district, along with four superintendents of police (SPs), to monitor the polling process.

For the four polling stations in the district, each SP was in charge of one polling station. Lower Subansiri district election officer (DEO) Vivek HP was also present at Daporijo, Sain said.

East Siang SP Sachin Singhal, West Siang DC Hage Mamu, and SP Abhimanyu Poswal were the in-charges of the two polling stations at Rumgong.

DC and SP of Kra Daadi and SP of Lower Dibang Valley were also stationed in Kurung Kumey, while West Kameng DC Akriti Sagar and SP Sudhanshu Dhama were stationed in East Kameng district along with other officers and 10 paramilitary forces, the CEO said.

For these 8 polling stations, we have extensive deployment of security personnel, and we will ensure that this time, if something happens or if anybody tries to snatch or touch the EVMs in an unlawful manner, strict action will be initiated, he said.

An estimated 82.71 percent of the total 8,92,694 voters exercised their franchise on April 19 to elect 50 MLAs for the 60-member assembly in the northeastern state.

The ruling BJP had already won ten assembly seats unopposed.

The turnout in the Lok Sabha polls in the state was recorded at 77.51 percent.

The counting of votes for assembly elections would be held on June 2, while that for Lok Sabha polls would be on June 4.

 Also Read: Lone voter casts vote in remote Arunachal Pradesh district bordering China (sentinelassam.com)

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