Arunachal: Bye-elections along 131 panchayat bodies to be held on July 12

The Arunachal Pradesh State Election Commission today announced that bye-elections to 130 Gram Panchayat Constituencies (GPCs) along with one Zilla Parishad seat will be held on July 12.

Polling across 40 gramme panchayat seats and one in zilla parishad at Vijoynagar administrative sub-division under Changlang district has been kept delayed due to law and order and other administrative considerations, according to State Election Commissioner (SEC) – Hage Kojeen.

Due to judicial cases pending before the Election Tribunal and the Itanagar bench of the Gauhati High Court, 11 seats have been removed from the election process, according to Kojeen.

The seats where elections will be held have become vacant due to a number of factors, including the rejection of nomination papers during the December 2020 local body elections, a lack of eligible candidates, disqualification under anti-defection laws, and the death or resignation of several winning candidates, he explained.

During the bye-elections, which will be held at 101 polling sites in 20 districts of the frontier state, a total of 7000 voters will be able to exercise their right to vote.

More than 500 election officials will be involved in the panchayat by-poll excluding security personnel. The SEC has urged to all stakeholders and political parties to provide their assistance to the free, fair, and peaceful conduct of the by-elections.