Itanagar: Sixty-three candidates have been declared elected unopposed ahead of the December 15 panchayat and municipal elections in Arunachal Pradesh, the State Election Commission (SEC) said on Sunday.
According to the SEC, the ruling BJP secured 58 zilla parishad seats uncontested, while one seat went to the National People’s Party (NPP).
Four BJP nominees were also elected unopposed to the Itanagar Municipal Corporation (IMC).
With Saturday marking the final day for withdrawal of nominations, the SEC confirmed that 440 candidates remain in the fray for 186 zilla parishad seats; 39 candidates will contest 16 IMC wards; and 21 candidates are vying for eight wards under the Pasighat Municipal Council (PMC).
A total of 600 nominations had been filed for 245 zilla parishad constituencies, 10,550 for 8,182 gram panchayat seats, 101 for 20 IMC wards and 28 for eight PMC wards by the November 24 deadline.
Scrutiny was completed on November 26.
The commission noted that 13 gram panchayat constituencies received no nominations, while papers filed for 14 others were rejected.
Polling in the Dumba Singpho GP seat has been countermanded following the death of a validly nominated candidate.
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The SEC termed these figures provisional, adding that vacancies will be filled later through by-elections.
Arunachal Pradesh will hold the 12th panchayati raj elections and the third municipal polls for Itanagar and Pasighat simultaneously on December 15.
A total of 8,31,648 voters—7,59,210 for panchayats and 72,438 for municipal bodies—will cast their votes across 2,171 rural polling stations, 67 IMC booths and 12 PMC booths.
Electronic Voting Machines will be used for municipal elections, while ballot boxes will be deployed for panchayat polling. Counting of votes is scheduled for December 20.
