[ Amar Sangno ]
ITANAGAR, 9 Dec: With the official closure of the scrutiny and withdrawal process of the Panchayat and Municipal elections, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) has made significant inroads and marked a strong presence in rural Arunachal.
In the Panchayat race, 96 BJP zilla parishad members (ZPM) have been elected unopposed out of the 240 candidates fielded by the BJP across the state, while 5,410 gram panchayat members (GPMs) won unopposed out of the total 8,196 seats.
Of the total 58 corporator seats in the Itanagar municipal corporation, the party has secured five seats.
However, the Pasighat municipal council will witness polls for all eight seats.
The saffron surge in the local elections in Arunachal indicates that the party is cementing its presence at the grass-root level.
There are 242 ZPM candidates in the state, out of which 98 ZPMs has been declared elected uncontested. Elections will be held for the remaining 142 seats, including 75 constituencies reserved for women.
In Dibang Valley and Kra Daadi districts, all ZPMs have been declared elected uncontested.
For gram panchayat members (GPM), there are 8,196 seats, out of which 6,152 GPMs have been declared elected uncontested.
The election for GPMs will now be held in 1,707 segments.
Out of 8,196 seats, 2,563 seats are reserved for women.
Lower Subansiri has the highest women reservation with 234 seats, followed by Namsai with 194 seats and West Kameng with 186 seats.
The state election commission informed that elections for ZPM and GPM in the entire Vijoynagar constituency have been kept in abeyance after a legal petition against nomination of non-APST candidates.
The election to the ZPM seat at 4th Hawai North in Anjaw has also been kept in abeyance due to some legal issue.
It is also reported that one GPM seat fell vacant in Tawang after rejection of nomination, while no nominations have been filed for the eight GPM seats in West Kameng district. Five GPM seats have also fallen vacant in Namsai.
In Pakke-Kessang district, a segment called New-Gumte reportedly has no voters.
The SEC further informed that two GPM seats from Kamle district have been shifted to Upper Subansiri district. Similarly, one GPM seat of East Siang district has been transferred to Lower Siang district.
Hailing early success in the local body election, BJP general secretary cum Namsai MLA Zingnu Namchoom said that people have faith in Prime Minister Modi and Chief Minister Pema Khandu.
“Sab ka sath, sab ka vikas, sab ka vishwas is the mantra,” said the BJP GS.
Meanwhile, Arunachal Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) general secretary cum spokesperson Toko Mina termed the BJP’s early election success as “purchased faith by illegitimate means” and credited the state election commission for it.
