Voters better ’04, touch 72 pc mark

Arunachal PradeshThere was heavy polling for the Arunachal Pradesh assembly elections on Tuesday, with 72 per cent of the 733,000 electors turning out to vote.

Elections were held in 57 of the 60 assembly seats, as the Congress has no opponent in three.

In the 2004 assembly elections, the voter turnout was 70 per cent.

“At least 72 per cent of votes were cast,” Chief Electoral Officer Yeshi Tsering said on the phone from Itanagar. “We can arrive at the exact figure only after reports from remote centres come in.”

He said the voting was peaceful except in 23 polling booths where there were reports of clashes between supporters of parties. Electronic voting machines were also damaged in these places. However, the reports will be verified and sent to the Election Commission (EC). Repoll, if ordered by the EC, will take place on October 16 or 17.

Polling was suspended temporarily in two booths — under the Kanobari constituency (700 km southeast of Itanagar) – because there were located in a place that both Assam and Arunachal Pradesh claim. Opposition to the elections came from local people and the police. However, the polling could be completed.

Of the 2,063 polling booths in the state, eight had nine voters or less. Two of them – Upper Mudoi Deep under the Bordumsa-Diyun constituency (600 km southeast of Itanagar) and Mramboo under the Anini constituency (400 km northeast of Itanagar) – had three voters each.

There were 154 candidates in fray in the elections.