Itanagar, April 22 (UNI) The Election Commission of India (ECI) has announced a fresh poll at eight polling stations in Arunachal Pradesh, which went for simultaneous elections to 18th Lok Sabha and 11th State Legislative Assembly on April 19 last.
“On the basis of reports submitted by Returning Officers, and after taking all material circumstances into account, the Commission hereby declares under Sections 58(2) and 58A(2) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 that the poll taken on April 19 at the polling stations mentioned against Parliamentary/Assembly Constituencies to be void and appoint April 24, 2024 as the date for a fresh poll,” the poll panel said.
The timing of the voting will be from 6 am to 2 pm, State’s Chief Electoral Officer Pawan Kumar Sain said at a press conference on Monday, while informing that extensive security deployment has been done for the repolling.
The fresh poll will be held at Sario polling station under Bameng constituency in East Kameng district; Longte Loth under Nyapin A/C, Kurung Kumey; Dingser, Bogia Siyum, Jimbari and Lengi under Nacho, Upper Subansiri; and Bogne and Molom poll booths under Rumgong constituency in Siang district.
Besides calling for wide publicity about the fresh poll schedule, the ECI has urged “swift action/investigation be initiated in the cases of tempering/damage to EVMs and other poll materials”.
Replying to a volley of queries from media persons, the CEO said, State Police Nodal Officer Chukhu Apa (IGP, Law and Order) will be stationed at Daporijo (Upper Subansiri) along with 4-5 SPs (to manage the security aspect). For 4 polling stations, each SP will be the in-charge of one polling station. DEO Lower Subansiri Vivek HP will also be stationed at Daporijo.
Likewise, East Siang SP Sachin Singhal, West Siang DC Hage Mamu and SP Abhimanyu Poswal will be the in-charge of the two polling stations in Rumgong. DC and SP, Kra Daadi and SP Lower Dibang Valley will be stationed in Kurung Kumey, while West Kameng DC Akriti Sagar and SP Sudhanshu Dhama will be stationed in East Kameng district along with other officers and 10 paramilitary forces.
“For these 8 polling stations, we have extensive detailment and deployment. We will ensure that this time, if something happens or if anybody tries to snatch or touch the EVM in an unlawful manner, the lesson will be done properly,” the CEO warned.
Meanwhile, the CEO informed that the overall voting percentage in the recently held simultaneous polls to the 18th Lok Sabha and 11th State Legislative Assembly has increased to 80.11 per cent.
“Based on final scrutiny and examination of all the reports received from the presiding officers, now our voter turnout has increased i.e. 77.51 per cent in Parliamentary constituencies and 82.71 per cent in Assembly constituencies. This is the final figure which we got from our system and the same has been uploaded on ECI website,” he said.
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