Meghalaya Assembly election begins on March 3
Shillong, Mar 3: Polling for the single-phase of Meghalaya Assembly elections began today amidst tight security. The polling will continue till 4:00 p.m. Around 12,32,907 voters are expected to exercise their franchise during the elections. Altogether 331 candidates, including six former chief ministers, are in fray for the elections to the eighth Meghalaya Assembly. Six former Chief Ministers are D D Lapang, Purno A Sangma, Salseng C Marak, E K Mawlong, F A Khonglam and J D Rymbai.
The
Congress
is
battling
the
Nationalist
Congress
Party
(NCP)
and
Rashtriya
Janata
Dal
(RJD),
two
major
constituents
of
its
Union
coalition.
All
Ministers
except
R
G
Lyngdoh,
who
holds
the
education
portfolio
in
the
Congress-led
Lapang
government,
are
seeking
re-election.
The
Congress
is
contesting
all
60
seats
in
the
state,
while
the
United
Democratic
Party
(UDP)
has
fielded
its
candidate
on
52
constituencies
and
the
NCP
is
contesting
50
seats.
The
Election
Commission
has
postponed
the
polling
in
Baghmara
constituency
after
sitting
Congress
candidate
S
Sangma
died
of
cancer.
The
election
in
the
constituency
has
been
re-scheduled
for
March
22.
Out
of
1600
polling
stations
in
the
state,
635
have
been
declared
hyper-sensitive
and
194
as
sensitive.
Adequate security personnel have been deployed to ensure free and fair elections. Forty companies of paramilitary forces, including BSF, have been deployed to ensure free and fair polling. Security has been beefed up along international and inter-state borders to prevent entry of anti-social elements. The eighth Meghalaya Legislative Assembly will be constituted by March 10.
ANI