Simultaneous LS, assembly polls begin in Arunachal Pradesh

, April 9: Simultaneous polls for two Lok Sabha and 49 of the 60 assembly seats of Arunachal Pradesh began today on a peaceful note. Congress, BJP, NCP, Peoples Party of Arunachal besides independents are in the fray in the Western and Eastern parliamentary constituencies, which are traditional Congress strongholds since 1975 except in 2004 polls when BJP made its dent for the first time.

Union Minister of State for Minority Affairs Ninong Ering of Congress is pitted against BJP nominee Tarir Gao and PPA'S Wangman Lowangcha in the Eastern Parliamentary seat. In the Western seat Congress MP nominee and sitting MP Takam Sanjoy has locked horns with BJP's Kiren Rijiju in a multi-cornered contest which has eight candidates.

Two Lok Sabha and 49 assembly seats go to polls in Arunachal Pradesh

In the assembly polls the main contest will be between Congress and BJP but new entrant Naga Peoples Front (NPF), along with PPA and NCP are expected to put up formidable fight in several seats. Altogether 155 candidates including 5 women are in the fray for 49 of the 60 Assembly seats in the state. The rest 11 seats have been won uncontested by Congress. Among the winners are Chief Minister Nabam Tuki from Sagalee constituency.

An electorate of 7,53,170, including 3,77,272 women will cast their votes in 2,158 polling stations in the state. An additional 20 companies of central paramilitary forces besides 24 existing companies have been deployed as well as 8000 policemen to maintain law and order during the polls. All the inter-state check gates have been sealed till 5pm today. The state capital is experiencing moderate rains since last night. The state government has declared a holiday today to enable voters to exercise their franchise.

PTI