April 11
Sealed EVMs kept in strong room
ITANAGAR, Apr 10: Form 17A and other relevant documents in respect of Polling stations
under 13-
The Strong Room of polled EVMs of simultaneous election of Itanagar, Doimukh and
Sagalee Assembly constituency is locked and sealed in presence of Shahzad Shibli,
Central Observer, Ashok Kumar, DEO cum ARO Yupia , Mige Kamki, RO Itanagar segment
at Sidharth Hall here. No serious defects or discrepancies were detected and all
the EVMs were sealed and kept in the strong room amidst tight security, informed
Mige Kamki DC cum RO 13-
ASUT urges Govt. to release stipend
ITANAGAR, Apr 10: Arunachal Students Union of Tamil Nadu (ASUT) has appealed to the state government for early release of stipend of Arunachalee students pursuing education in Tamil Nadu.
The Higher and Technical Education Department, GoAP sources claims the stipend has been released on March 21. But it is learnt only in the last week that stipend is yet to be released by the state government, claimed ASUT president in a release. ASUT said that delay in release of stipend has adversely affected the study of many poor students.
News Impact
10 EVMs destroyed in West Siang & East Kameng
Re-
ITANAGAR, Apr 10: Miscreants destroyed ten Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs)-
According to an official release, the EVMs of four polling stations under 30-
Police arrested some of the culprits involved in the incidents and few are still absconding.
Polling was by and large peaceful in other places of the district.
Meanwhile, the Election Agent of the BJP candidate of Aalo West Constituency has
demanded re-
In a complaint letter to ECI, the party agent claimed that the demand for re-
The election agent of the BJP candidate alleged that the EVMs were destroyed by INC
workers in a pre-
He expressed apprehension that any delay in conduction of re-
"There should not be any problem for the authority to hold re-
According a latest official report from Seppa, the EVMs of 27-
Polling was not polled at 2-
So far, 149 polling teams out of 167 returned back to Seppa, the district headquarters.
DAPORIJO: Out of the 244 polling stations under Nacho, Taliha, Daporijo, Raga and
Dumporijo constituencies in Upper Subansiri district, re-
Meanwhile, it was estimated that around 66 per cent voters turned out to exercise their franchise in the five constituencies in the district.
The retrieval of equipment and personnel of Taliha, Daporijo and Dumporijo constituencies is complete while for Raga and Nacho is on. Retrieval of men and material of 5 polling stations of Taksing circle under Nacho constituency, which can be reached only through helicopter service or 3 days trekking, could not be done due to inclement weather. DIPRO
Anini : Polling in Dibang Valley district ended peacefully yesterday.
A total of 71.88 percent voter turn out was registered in 44 polling stations spreading in hilly and far flung areas.
Anini, the lone assembly constituency of the district, is considered as one of the most difficult constituencies in the state in terms of accessibility and road communication. Some of the remote locations where polling stations were set up were Chepe, Adane, Etalin, Aneilih, Kronli, and Malini among others.
So far, 34 polling teams out of the 44, have returned back to the district headquarters and rest is likely to arrive in Anini day after tomorrow.
Namsai: Despite inclement weather, voters came out in large number at polling stations
to elect their representative. Polling was held at 30 polling stations for three
assembly constituencies under the sub-
Polling was webcast live from 10 polling stations from the three constituencies. The polling teams from the nearby polling stations have arrived along with their respective Sector magistrate and deposited the EVMS and other poll materials to the receiving centre.
The ARO cum ADC Namsai Ravi Jha left no stone unturned to maintain law and order situation. He appreciated the concerted effort by the election machinery and the polling personnel for smooth and error free polling.
Tezu: As per latest report, the total turn out of the voters in Tezu-
No poll related incident has been reported so far from all the tree constituencies.
Yingkiong: All the polling team from the 68 polling stations of Upper Siang district have arrived in district headquarters on successful completion of polling and deposited the polling materials, including sealed EVMs in strong room of multipurpose community hall in presence of RO and AROs today. Around 83.03 pc voters turn out recorded in the district.
Bomdila: All the 154 polling teams in West Kameng returned safe with the last polling
team reporting back at 5 pm today without any incident. The polling for the Parliamentary
and Assembly elections in the district passed-
The district recorded a total of 75.74 pc voting with 78.40 female and 73.26 male voting per centage. Three polling stations recorded cent percent voting.
Roing: A total of 19,036 voters out of 23,390 have exercised their adult franchise
in yesterday's polling in Lower Dibang Valley district registering 81.38 pc voter
turn out (Female-
At 42 Dambuk assembly constituency, 9763 voters out of 11,224 cast their votes registering 86.98 pc turn out. Of the total voters, who cast votes, 5098 were female (89.36%).
At 43-
Meanwhile, all the polling teams from remote places, Dambuk, Paglam, Hunli and Desali circles have reported back in the district headquarter this evening. DIPROs
Re-
By Staff Reporter
SEPPA, Apr 10: Following the poll related violence at various polling stations in
East Kameng district on Wednesday; eight polling stations namely Lapung & Jawa Camp
of 8th Bameng and Veo, Byale Sulung, Sawa, Yakli and Dafri of 9th Chayang Tajo,
Lumdung of 11th West Seppa are likely to be re-
The far-
Making the task more difficult, the authority divulged that out of 167 polling stations, 109 are situated in remote and interior areas and the polling teams have to reach Hq only by foot march.
Election festival comes to an end: Candidates and voters keeping fingers crossed
Denhang Bosai
With the conclusion of the twin Parliamentary and Assembly elections, all the candidates' houses, streets, party offices etc look deserted. The candidates and their close confidantes are busy calculating the expected numbers of votes they are hoping to get from each polling station. Most of the candidates are visibly nervous as the voters can no longer be trusted like before. They take money from all the candidates and enjoy free meals and drinks in all the houses of the contesting candidates. It's not the candidates who are the saddest after the elections but the voters and the supporters of the candidates who had been having sumptuous meals and the choicest drinks at the cost of the candidates for almost one month absolutely free. From today, most of the voters will have to cook their meals at their own homes. They will have to travel by buses, private vehicles and other means of conveyance. As long as the election process was on, these same voters and supporters travelled by the vehicles provided by the candidates. Many voters virtually had forgotten to walk on foot. They were so pampered and mollycoddled by the candidates that they got whatever they asked. Sadly, these supporters are blissfully oblivious of the fact that their caring candidates will exploit them with great vengeance when they get the power to rule.
Ironically, in any elections, it's the voters and the diehard supporters who create
unnecessary enmity and bad blood between themselves while the contesting candidates
maintain cordial relations because they know that they are comrades in arms to loot
the poor voters. Their mission is the same; to hoodwink the gullible voters and make
quick and easy money in the five years period. Elections had been held on umpteen
occasions in the past but interestingly, the voters had not learnt their lesson.
They always allow themselves to be taken for a merry ride by the candidates. It's
the weakness of the voters that creates a fertile ground for the wily politicians
to merrily exploit and they always find themselves in the position of 'heads I win,
tails you lose.' They are always in a win-
The beauty of the secret ballot is that every contesting candidate is hopeful of winning. It's indeed interesting to note that a candidate who has not performed well at all in the Hastings is also supremely confident of winning. I, at times feel how wrongly some people assess themselves. Another interesting fact in Arunachal Pradesh is that everybody wants to become an MLA after earning some money. This is probably because they think that the post of MLA has become very lucrative that facilitates making easy and quick money. Nobody is inspired to become an MLA by the thought of working selflessly for the welfare of the poor people. But here, the voters are to be blamed more than the candidates because the voters unabashedly ask money from the candidates in return for their votes. Eventually when the candidate is catapulted to the position of unlimited powers, he indulges in amassing wealth for use in the next election. Thus the vicious circle continues. In spite of the best effort by the ECI to check the use of cash by the candidates to buy votes, there has not been much success. The seizure of mind boggling amount of Rs 4,38,05,130 this year during the poll campaign has not deterred the erring candidates. They have succeeded in using cash rampantly to by the voters. The voters were paid from Rs 500 to Rs 4,000 each on production of election card. So, one can imagine the amount of hard cash involved in this election apart from the freebies in the tune of crores. It will be a Himalayan task to check this malpractice in our state and in the country as a whole. Unless this is checked effectively, ours cannot be called a healthy and truly functional Democracy. This will prevent the honest, educated and capable candidates to enter politics. As of now, the fates of the candidates are effectively sealed inside the EVMs and they will have to painfully wait for more than one month for the result. The voters have done their duty and now, it all depends on the stars of the candidates or in another word 'who spent how much' to win over the voters in their favour. My concluding line as always, 'may the best' win. [The writer is DIPRO, Tirap and can be reached at denhangbosai@yahoo.co.in]
SP alleged of canning peaceful campaigners, DASU seeks suspension
ITANAGAR, Apr 10: Lower Dibang Valley unit of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lodged a complaint with Chief Election Commissioner of India (ECI) against Lower Dibang Valley Superintendent of Police (SP) on April 7 last for allegedly resorting to lathi charge on peaceful party campaigners and damaging their parked motorcycles without any provocation.
The party alleged that SP BK Singh canned the peaceful campaigners, who were campaigning for their candidate at Bolung on April 6 at around 11 pm.
Several campaigners suffered grievous injury during the lathi charge. Many motorcycles were also damaged and seven lifted, the party claimed and demanded immediate suspension of the erring SP and departmental action against him.
The party also demanded compensation to the owners of the damaged motorcycles.
Meanwhile, the Dibang Adi Students' Union (DASU) citing the same incident in its ultimatum to the Lower Dibang Valley DC today claimed that the SP was in a drunken state when the assault was meted out to the youths and maintained that many others were also injured.
Further alleging that the SP himself damaged seven parked motor bikes with dao in presence of the sector magistrate, it sought immediate suspension of the SP and to book him under appropriate section of law, total compensation to the seven motor bike owners within 24 hours and to set up judicial enquiry against the SP.
Violence mars poll in parts of Upper Subansiri
Correspondent
DAPORIJO, Apr 10: Polling in parts of Upper Subansiri district was marred by poll related violence, including EVM destruction and mob attack on public.
Seven people, including women suffered grievous injury after an angry mob attacked them at Lechin village under Chetam circle of Daporijo Assembly constituency. Police force immediately rushed to the spot and brought the situation under control.
All the injured have been admitted in Daporijo Hospital today.
At least seven EVMs were also reported destroyed by miscreants in two assembly constituencies in the district. EVMs of Bator, Rilo and Riba polling stations under Dumporijo assembly constituency, Don and Baja polling stations under Raga assembly constituencies have been reportedly destroyed by miscreants.
It is also reported that the EVMs of Jeke IV school 24/28 polling station and Rikung temporary shed 24/34 polling station were destroyed by miscreants. BJP candidate Tapen Siga has lodged complaint against the miscreants for allegedly destroying the voting machines of the two polling stations.
It is also reported that groups of people were seen trying to stop the vehicles
carrying the EVMs of various polling stations through Daporijo -
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The countdown begins
The political fate of 144 Assembly and 11 Parliamentary candidates has been locked into electronic voting machines (EVMs) by the electorates of state during simultaneous Assembly and Lok Sabha elections which ended peacefully yesterday. Barring some sporadic incidents of violence, including damage of few EVMs in Kurung Kumey, East Kameng, Upper Subansiri and some other districts, no major incident has been reported from any part of the state.
The state registered 71 percent voter turnout. Arunachal has a total of 7, 57,493 electorates including 3, 79,473 female voters. Youths, including first time voters comprised 12.5 per cent of the total electorate. Long queues of women and youth could be seen in most of the polling stations waiting patiently for their turn to cast their votes. Active participation of youths and women in election process is something to cheer about. Now everyone will be waiting patiently for May 16 when results will be declared. Hope voters have chosen best leaders to represent them at Itanagar and New Delhi.
Copyright © 2008, The Arunachal Times Publications Pvt. Ltd., Siang House, Sector
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All rights reserved.
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Arunachal don’t need unions and associations
Dear Editor,
The article written by one Patey Apa published in reader’s forum column of your esteemed daily is commendable. Really, Arunachal Pradesh has become land of unions, association and organization.
Unnecessarily unions are formed. Population of Arunachal Pradesh is no doubt very low. But formation of union is very high. Mushrooming of union hampers development of state as it leads to numerous bandh calls for petty reasons. People of Arunachal Pradesh do not need any organizations and unions. We need proper implementation of laws established by apex body.
Yours,
Opang Padung
Banaras Hindu
University
"Rural India and Democracy"
Dear Editor,
To taste true democracy one should visit rural India. It is naught and invisible in metro cities. Our rural citizens are more enthusiastic. They speak about election, exercise their franchise, and participate whole heartedly. Their demands are very simple and innocent. But their participations are appreciable. They hold the true meaning of democracy. They hold the spirit of democratic decentralization. They are our 68% population. And they are the citizens who must be respected as they deserve.
Our leaders will be given the trust of the people after this election. Hope our leaders will be proactive, strong enough to listen and fulfill the aspirations of the people. Hope our new government will not fail to address the pressing issues and prepare for a better tomorrow.
Yours,
Joram Aatum
New Delhi
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