Arunachal Pradesh Polls: Congress Releases List of 34 Candidates

Ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections in Arunachal Pradesh, the Congress party announced a list of 34 candidates for the northeastern state on Thursday. Among the prominent names on the list are Sanhey Phuntsok, Kompu Dolo, Okram Yosung, and Tobing Lego, for the 60-seat state Assembly.

Earlier, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had announced its candidates for all assembly seats, with Union Earth Sciences Minister Kiren Rijiju and Tapir Gao named as candidates for the Arunachal West and Arunachal East Lok Sabha seats, respectively.

The Election Commission of India issued a notification on Wednesday for simultaneous Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in Arunachal Pradesh, scheduled for April 19. The state election office has issued separate gazette notifications for the 60 assembly constituencies and two Lok Sabha seats. The nomination filing deadline is March 27, with scrutiny on March 28 and the withdrawal deadline on March 30. The current state assembly's term ends on June 2.

Arunachal Pradesh has a total of 8,86,848 electorates, including 4,49,050 female voters, 5,740 service voters, and five third-gender voters. There are 2,226 polling booths, with 156 managed entirely by women, 49 by youth, and three by persons with disabilities (PWDs). The state also has 480 polling booths in shadow areas, 588 identified as critical, and 443 as vulnerable.