Assembly polls 2024 Polling for the 60 assembly seats in Arunachal Pradesh and 32 seats in Sikkim began at 7 am on Friday. Voting in both the states will continue till 5 pm.
According to the Election Commission, approximately 7.90 per cent of voting was recorded in Sikkim, while approximately 6.44 per cent of voting was recorded in Arunachal Pradesh till 9 am.
In Arunachal, an estimated 8,92,694 voters, including 4,54,256 women, will exercise their franchise and decide the electoral fate of 133 candidates in the assembly polls and 14 Lok Sabha poll contestants.
In Sikkim, over 4.64 lakh voters are eligible to exercise their franchise to elect their representatives in the assembly and an MP for Lok Sabha from the Himalayan state.
ARUNACHAL PRADESH
The BJP has already won 10 constituencies unopposed in the 60-member assembly in Arunachal Pradesh.
In the West parliamentary seat, eight candidates are in the fray, including Union Earth Sciences Minister Kiren Rijiju and state Congress president Nabam Tuki.
Sitting BJP MP Tapir Gao and state Congress vice-president Bosiram Siram are among the six candidates contesting from the Arunachal East Lok Sabha constituency.
Elaborate security arrangements have been made to conduct peaceful polling in the state with the deployment of 70 companies of central armed police forces (CAPF), including India Reserve Battalion, and state police personnel, state Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Pawan Kumar Sain told news agency PTI.
The Election Commission has also arranged special facilities for 5,596 persons with disability (PwD), including transportation to polling booths and installation of ramps, the CEO said.
A total of 150 polling booths in the state will be managed by women.
The BJP won both Lok Sabha constituencies in 2019, while in the assembly, the party bagged 41 seats. The JD(U) emerged victorious in seven, the NPP in five, and Congress in four. The PPA secured one seat and two Independent candidates won.
Counting of votes for assembly elections will be held on June 2, while that of Lok Sabha polls is on June 4.
SIKKIM
A total of 146 candidates, including Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang, his predecessor Pawan Kumar Chamling, former footballer Bhaichung Bhutia, and Tamang’s wife Krishna Kumari Rai are in the fray for 32 assembly constituencies.
Sitting Lok Sabha MP Indra Hang Subba and Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF)’s PD Rai are among 14 candidates in the lone Lok Sabha seat.
Tamang and Chamling are contesting from two assembly constituencies each.
Voting is underway in 573 polling stations, out of which 88 are in urban and 485 in rural areas.
Thirteen companies of CAPF have been deployed in Sikkim, of which five companies are from the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and eight from Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB).
Sikkim Lok Sabha Election Date 2024: Total seats, schedule and other details