Panchayat and municipal elections will be held simultaneously in Arunachal Pradesh on 15 December, and the counting of votes is scheduled for 20 December. This will be the 12th election for panchayat bodies since the NEFA Panchayat Regulation of 1967, and the third municipal election for Itanagar and Pasighat, the only two civic bodies in the state.
Arunachal currently has 27 zilla parishads with 245 constituencies and 2,103 gram panchayats comprising 8,181 constituencies. The Itanagar Municipal Corporation (IMC) has 20 wards, while the Pasighat Municipal Council (PMC) has eight wards.
A total of 8,31,648 voters are eligible to vote – 7,59,210 for the panchayat elections and 72,438 for the municipal elections. Upper Subansiri district has the highest number of panchayat voters at 58,764, while Dibang Valley has the lowest at 3,854. In the civic polls, Itanagar’s Ward No 19 has the highest number of voters (5,106), whereas Pasighat’s Ward No 6 has the lowest (812).
The SEC will set up 2,171 polling stations for the panchayat elections, 67 for the IMC, and 12 for the PMC polls. EVMs will be used in the municipal elections, while the panchayat polls will be conducted using ballot boxes. With the announcement of the poll schedule, the model code of conduct has come into force across the state.
It is widely expected that the BJP will secure a strong victory, with a high percentage of seats going uncontested. It appears unlikely that the Congress and other parties will be able to field candidates in all segments. Some disgruntled leaders who were unable to secure BJP tickets may join other parties at the last moment.
Nonetheless, local polls also provide an important opportunity for women leaders, who are often sidelined in higher-level leadership roles. With reservations ensuring their participation, these elections offer women a meaningful chance to lead and influence local governance.