Election officials, EVMs airlifted to four remote polling booths

ITANAGAR, Apr 16: The first batch of 40 election officials including police personnel were airlifted to four remote polling stations in Arunachal Pradesh's Kra Daadi district to conduct polling for the simultaneous Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in the northeastern state on April 19, an official said on Tuesday.

The polling officials along with Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trails (VVPATs) were airlifted on Monday to the polling stations located at Pip-Sorang circle in the remote district bordering China, the official said.

"They were airlifted in two sorties by an MI-172 chopper operated in the state by Skyone airways," Toko Babu, officer on special duty (OSD) to the state's chief electoral officer (CEO), said on Tuesday.

Airlifting of more polling teams to remote polling stations where road communication is not conducive, would be done as per requirements of respective district electoral officers (DEOs) of various districts, he said.

"The polling teams airlifted on Monday will be stationed at Tali, the ADC headquarters in the district, from where they will undertake a foot march to reach Pip-Sorang circle," Babu said.

Tali assembly constituency which falls under Arunachal West Parliamentary seat, is one among the 10 assembly seats won unopposed. Jike Takko of BJP had won the seat uncontested this time.

Each polling team consists of 10 persons on an average including, a presiding officer, two polling officers, one polling attendant besides, security personnel, the official said, and added that the four polling stations in the Pip-Sorang circle include, Tedung, Pip-Sorang, Kharsang and Korapu.

Meanwhile, the first batch of polling teams, accompanied by essential election materials including EVMs and VVPATs, departed for the remote polling stations of Gasseng and Gate in Siang district.

These stations, located in the challenging terrains of Payum circle, are among the most inaccessible areas in the region.

The teams, which will cover the journey on foot, are scheduled to halt overnight at Molo before embarking on a three-day trek to their respective stations.

This deployment is part of the preparations for the upcoming elections under the Rumgong assembly constituency and the Arunachal West parliamentary constituency.

Officials explained that the arrangement includes each team being equipped with one presiding officer, four polling officers, fifteen attendants/porters, and two policemen.

They are also carrying four sets of EVMs and VVPATs, including reserves, to ensure the smooth conduct of polling.

Following this initial dispatch, additional teams assigned to seven other polling stations requiring a two-day march will set out on April 17 from Boleng, the district headquarters, emphasizing the rigorous efforts undertaken to facilitate voting in these remote locations.

The OSD added that remaining polling stations in the state, which require the polling teams to undertake a foot march, will start leaving for their respective polling booths on April 17 from the respective district headquarters.

There are altogether 228 polling stations in the state out of the total 2,226, which could be reached only through foot march. Out of these, to reach 61 polling stations it requires two days of foot-march, while in seven other booths, polling officials have to march for three days to reach their respective destinations.

The northeastern state will go to simultaneous polls for two Lok Sabha seats   Western Parliamentary and Eastern Parliamentary constituencies along with 50 assembly seats in the first phase on April 19.

There are a total of 60 assembly seats in the state out of which, BJP won 10 seats unopposed.

A total of 8.92,694 voters including, 4,54,256 female, will decide the fate of 143 candidates contesting for the 50 assembly seats and 14 candidates vying for the two Lok Sabha seats.

A total of 11,130 polling officials have been deployed to conduct the polling process while 6,874 EVMs would be used for conducting Lok Sabha and Assembly elections.

As many as 80 companies of central armed police forces (CAPF) have been deployed in the northeastern state to manage law and order.

Counting of votes for assembly elections would be held on June 2, while that of Lok Sabha polls on June 4, respectively. PTI