Municipal election
Staff Reporter
ITANAGAR, 26 Dec: The Janata Dal (United) gave a stellar performance in its maiden foray into the Itanagar Municipal Corporation (IMC) election by securing nine wards.
The JD (U) gave a tough fight to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which secured 10 of the total 20 wards of the IMC, leaving the ruling party one short of the majority mark.
The JD (U) had fielded 14 candidates in the 20-member IMC, while the BJP had fielded candidates in all the wards and had already secured five of the seats unopposed (Wards 12, 14, 18, 19 and 20).
The National People’s Party, which had fielded four candidates, managed to secure one ward.
The Indian National Congress (INC) had fielded three candidates but failed to open its account in the IMC.
BJP National Council member and Ward No 17 candidate Tame Phassang won by the highest margin of 1,460 votes, while the JD (U)’s Ward No 3 candidate, Gora Talang won by the lowest margin of 16 votes.
In East Siang district’s Pasighat Municipal Council (PMC) election, the BJP swept six of the eight wards, while the INC secured the remaining two.
Rebeka Panyang Megu of the BJP won by the highest margin of 240 votes, while Mumcy Dupak of the INC won by the lowest margin of two votes.
In 2013, the IMC had 30 seats, while the PMC had 12 seats. The numbers of seats in both the urban local bodies were reduced after the delimitation of wards.
The performance of the JD (U) in the civic polls assumes significance as the party received a major jolt in Arunachal recently with six of its seven MLAs shifting allegiance to the BJP. Itanagar MLA Techi Kaso is the lone JD (U) MLA after the six other MLAs shifted sides. (With PTI inputs)
