Over 7,000 Central Armed Police Force (CAPF) personnel, along with thousands of state security forces, have been deployed by the Election Commission to ensure the smooth conduct of simultaneous Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in Arunachal Pradesh, stated Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Pawan Kumar Sain said on Monday.
Sain revealed that the CAPF personnel, hailing from various paramilitary forces, have been stationed across all 26 districts of the state.
Their tasks include initiating area dominance exercises in vulnerable, mixed-populated, and sensitive polling stations and areas.
The elections for the 60-member Arunachal Pradesh Assembly and the two Lok Sabha seats are scheduled to be held concurrently in the first phase on April 19.
Speaking at a media briefing, the CEO informed that out of the total 2,226 polling stations in the state, 480 are situated in 'shadow' areas, with an additional 588 stations marked as critical and 443 as vulnerable.
Shadow zones refer to areas with poor or nonexistent mobile phone/internet connectivity.
Notably, 228 polling stations necessitate police and security personnel to conduct foot marches. Among these stations, 156 will be exclusively managed by women staff.
In terms of technological measures, Sain mentioned that webcasting and real-time communication facilities would be available in 750 polling stations, while offline webcasting would be implemented in 342 polling stations.
In adherence to the Election Commission's directives, law enforcement agencies have seized over Rs 3.88 crore in cash and confiscated 378 unlicensed arms from various districts. Additionally, licensed arms owners have deposited 2,400 arms out of the total 33,996 licensed arms in the state.
Emphasising the commitment to ensuring fair polling without violence, Sain affirmed that strict actions would be taken against any violations of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC).
He highlighted the suspension of an additional deputy commissioner and a senior government official for alleged favouritism towards certain candidates.
Sain also indicated the potential utilisation of helicopters to transport officials and election materials to remote areas, contingent upon favourable weather conditions on the election date.
A total of 8,86,848 voters, including 4,49,050 females, are eligible to cast their votes. The official notification for both the Assembly and Lok Sabha polls in Arunachal Pradesh is scheduled to be issued on March 20, with the deadline for filing nomination papers set for March 27.
The withdrawal of nominations can be made until March 30. Counting of votes for the Assembly polls is slated for June 2, and for the Lok Sabha polls, on June 4.
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