Shillong: On the first day of nominations for the upcoming elections to the autonomous district councils (ADCs) in the Khasi and Jaintia Hills, three candidates officially entered the race, with the polls scheduled for February 21.
All three candidates are contesting constituencies within the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council (KHADC).
The candidates include sitting National People’s Party (NPP) MDC from Laitumkhrah-Malki, Fantin Joseph Lakadong, along with two independent candidates: Dr. OS Jyrwa, running for the Sohryngkham constituency, and Daniel Wahlang, who is contesting in the Mawsynram constituency.
As of the first day, no nominations have been filed from the other districts under KHADC, which include West Khasi Hills, South West Khasi Hills, Eastern West Khasi Hills, and Ri Bhoi, nor from the districts under the Jaintia Hills Autonomous District Council (JHADC), namely West Jaintia Hills and East Jaintia Hills.
Meanwhile, the District Council Affairs (DCA) department has issued the official notification calling for elections to the KHADC and JHADC constituencies.
The two ADCs together have a total of 1,308,818 eligible voters, with 996,518 voters from KHADC (including 515,247 females, 481,268 males, and 3 third-gender individuals) and 312,300 voters from JHADC (comprising 161,220 females, 151,079 males, and 1 third-gender voter).
There will be 2,146 polling stations across both councils, with 1,669 located in KHADC and 477 in JHADC.
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The nomination period will run from January 27 to February 3, with the filing deadline set for 3 pm on February 3.
This will be followed by scrutiny of nominations, with the last date to withdraw nominations being February 4.
The final list of valid nominations and symbol allotments will be confirmed on February 6.
Voting will take place on February 21, with the counting scheduled for February 24.
