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TANAGAR: Prime minister Manmohan Singh and finance minister Pranab Mukherjee rushing down to Arunachal Pradesh, hectic campaigning by state
leaders cutting across party lines, desperate attempts by Election Commission officials to reach the remotest corners with polling materials and reports of sporadic violence between different party supporters.
The last 30 days in this frontier state had all the ingredients of the "great Indian election drama".
And on Sunday evening, all the heat and dust of electioneering came to an end, marking the beginning of a "long" wait for all political parties, from the Congress to the regional People's Party of Arunachal, to see who finally manages to make it to the corridors of power in this landlocked state.
Along with Haryana and Maharashtra, Arunachal Pradesh is going to polls on October 13 to elect representatives for its 60-member House. The electioneering this time was a bit different compared to previous occasions as most of the political parties, instead of going for door-to-door campaign, depended on their star campaigners. The parties also used choppers this time, with Congress leading the list of parties requisitioning helicopters.
Though the people of Arunachal, particularly Congress supporters, were happy to see the Prime Minister and the finance minister, there was an element of disappointment, too. For, AICC chief Sonia Gandhi and the party's youth face, Rahul Gandhi, had to cancel their visit to the state owing to inclement weather. Though political observes feel it's going to be a smooth run for the ruling Congress this time also, the party isn't taking any chances. Union minister of state for parliamentary affairs V Narayanswami, his counterpart in the water resource department, Vincent Pala, party secretary Ranjit Thomas and senior leader Sanjoy Bapna camped in the state for a month to oversee the campaigning.
On the other hand, NCP national general secretary and Garo strongman Purno A Sangma and his minister daughter Agatha Sangma attended various election rallies across the state, while Trinamool Congress stalwarts, including Union ministers Mukul Roy and Saugata Roy, led the campaigning for the party. The opposition BJP had invited party president Rajnath Singh and cinestar-turned-politician Shatrughan Sinha as its star campaigners. Bihar deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi, too, visited the state to bolster the campaign for his party (JD-U) candidates.
Though no major untoward incident was reported during the run-up to the polls, there were some sporadic incidents of violence between supporters of Congress and Trinamool Congress in Tirap and NCP and Congress in East Siang district. However, no casualty was reported.
Altogether 7, 32, 956 voters, including 3, 64, 539 women and 1, 585 service voters, will decide the fate of 154 candidates, who are trying their electoral luck from 57 constituencies. Of the total 2, 057 polling stations, 512 have been identified as "sensitive' and 511 "hypersensitive". Elaborate security arrangements have been made to ensure a smooth and peaceful polling. Besides the existing police and paramilitary forces, an additional 32 companies of troops would be deployed. The state government has already declared "dry days" from October 12 to 14 and October 21 to 23. The day of polling has been declared an official holiday, while the votes will be counted on October 22.
Polling officials and materials meant for remote and inaccessible booths have been airlifted, while polling parties for other booths have already left for their respective destinations. As a precautionary measure, all border points of the state would be sealed till the poll process ends.
Congress has 57 candidates in the fray, followed by NCP (36), Trinamool Congress (26), BJP (18), People's Party of Arunachal (11), Janata Dal-United and Independent (3 each). The ruling Congress has already opened their innings with three candidates from Tawang incumbent chief minister Dorjee Khandu (Mukto), first-timer Jamber Tashi (Lumla) and Tsewang Dhondhup (Tawang) being elected unopposed.
Electronic voting machines will be used in all the booths, while 33 Central observers have been appointed to oversee the poll process.
Altogether 10, 305 government employees and adequate micro-observers have been roped in. The coverage of photo electoral rolls this election is 88.42 per cent while the total coverage of electoral photo identity card (EPIC) stands at 91.64 per cent.
In the 2004 Assembly polls, Congress had won 34 seats, BJP nine, NCP and Arunachal Congress (AC) two each and Independent (13).
However, all the BJP legislators and the two NCP MLAs later switched over to Congress. On the other hand, the two Arunachal Congress MLAs and Independents have became associate members of Congress, leaving the House without any Opposition.
