Arunachal Pradesh makes preparations for July 18 prez polls

Preparations are underway in Arunachal Pradesh for the July 18 presidential election, with the ballot box having arrived here from Delhi, a senior official at the state Assembly secretariat said on Thursday.

The ballot box, which arrived here on Wednesday amid tight security, had been kept in a makeshift strong room, guarded by a police team round the clock, Assembly secretary K Habung said.

The strong room on Assembly premises has been was sealed, and the whole procedure video-graphed, as instructed by the Election Commission of India (ECI), he stated.

Assembly additional secretary Tadar Meena, who is also the assistant returning officer (ARO), had on Tuesday, along with another official, received the ballot box and election-related materials in Delhi.

“It was ensured that the ballot box flew on a separate ticket to the state, beside the seat of the officer supervising the transport. The state director general of police was requested to depute personnel for escorting the materials on Wednesday from Mohanbari Airport (Dibrugarh) to the Legislative Assembly Secretariat, here,” Habung said.

Presidential election is scheduled to be held on July 18 and counting of votes, if required, on July 21.

In Arunachal Pradesh, the ruling BJP has 48 MLAs in the 60-member House, while the opposition Congress and the National People’s Party (NPP) have four each.

Besides three Independents, House also has a JD(U) leader as its member.

Barring the Congress legislators, others have pledged their support to NDA presidential candidate Droupadi Murmu.

Murmu is pitted against former Union minister Yashwant Sinha, nominated by non-BJP parties, including the Congress and the TMC.

Arunachal Pradesh has two Lok Sabha MPs – Union Law and Justice Minister Kiren Rijiju and Tapir Gao -- and one member of the Upper House, Nabam Rebia.

The vote value of individual MP in the state is 700, and that of an MLA is eight, Habung added.