63 candidates elected uncontested ahead of panchayat, municipal polls in Arunachal

Sixty-three candidates have been elected unopposed ahead of the December 15 municipal and panchayat elections in Arunachal Pradesh, the State Election Commission (SEC) said on November 30.

According to the SEC, the ruling BJP secured 58 zila parishad constituencies without contest, while one seat went uncontested to a candidate from the National People’s Party (NPP). Four BJP nominees were also elected unopposed to the Itanagar Municipal Corporation (IMC).

The last date for withdrawing nominations was Saturday. The SEC informed that 440 candidates will now contest for 186 zila parishad seats, along with 39 candidates for 16 IMC wards, and 21 for the eight Pasighat Municipal Council (PMC) wards.

A total of 600 nominations were submitted for 245 zila parishad constituencies, 10,550 for 8,182 gram panchayat seats, 101 for 20 IMC wards, and 28 for eight PMC wards before the November 24 deadline. Scrutiny was completed on November 26.

The commission said 13 gram panchayat constituencies received no nominations, while papers in 14 gram panchayat seats were rejected during scrutiny. Polling in Dumba Singpho gram panchayat constituency has been countermanded following the death of a candidate whose nomination was declared valid.

These figures remain provisional, and the vacant seats will be filled in subsequent by-elections. The state will conduct its 12th panchayat elections and the third municipal polls for Itanagar and Pasighat on December 15.

Altogether, 8,31,648 voters—including 7,59,210 for panchayat seats and 72,438 for municipal seats—are eligible to cast their votes across 2,171 polling stations for rural bodies, 67 for IMC, and 12 for PMC. Electronic Voting Machines will be used for municipal polls, while ballot boxes will be deployed for panchayat elections.

The counting of votes will take place on December 20.