Counting of votes begin in Arunachal Pradesh

Itanagar: Counting of votes for two Lok Sabha constituencies and 57 Assembly seats in Arunachal Pradesh began on Thursday amidst a massive security blanket, an official said. Overnight downpour could not dampen the spirit of the people as they were seen making a beeline to the counting centres since early morning to know the result of candidates. The Election Commission of India has set up 24 counting halls in 20 counting centres spread across 20 districts of the state.

The counting of votes for Lok Sabha seats as well as for assembly seats would be held simultaneously, Deputy Chief Electoral Officer Liken Koyu said. The announcement of results would be delayed as voter verifiable paper audit trail (VVPATs) slips of five booths in each Assembly constituency will be tallied with EVMs. The state election authorities have set up two counting halls each for Papum Pare, Yingkiong, Koloriang and Longding counting centres.

The VVPAT will be selected on a random basis through a transparent lottery system. The fate of 181 candidates including 11 women for 57 Assembly seats in the state besides, 12 candidates for Western and eastern Arunachal Parliamentary seats will be decided on Thursday. The ruling BJP had fielded candidates in all the 60 assembly seats while Congress contested in 46 seats, the NPP in 30 seats, JDU in 15 constituencies, JDS (12), PPA (9) and one from the All India Party (AIP). There are also 11 independents who contested the assembly polls.

The BJP had already opened its account by winning three seats unopposed including, Kento Jini from Along East constituency in West Siang district, Taba Tedir from Yachuli seat in Lower Subansiri district and Phurpa Tsering from Dirang seat in West Kameng district. IGP Sunil Garg who, is also the state nodal officer (Election) said that a total of 45 companies of Central Armed Paramilitary Forces (CAPF) comprising ITBP, CRPF and IRBn along with over 6,000 state civil police personnel have been deployed in the counting centres throughout the state.