The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has taken a strong lead in the panchayat polls and independent candidates are following close, even as the results continue to come in a staggered manner from interior areas of the state to the State Election Commission (SEC) here in the capital.
Briefing the press late Saturday evening, SEC secretary Nyali Ete informed that, of the total 242 zilla parishad seats, the results of 138 had come in. Out of these, the BJP has secured 122 seats, followed by seven seats by independent candidates, five by the National People’s Party (NPP), and two each by the Janata Dal (United) and the People’s Party of Arunachal (PPA).
In the gram panchayat segment, out of 8,215 seats, the BJP has won 2,925 seats, followed by independent candidates securing 393 seats, NPP 177, INC 135, JD (U) 49 and PPA 8. The panchayat election also witnessed 106 candidates getting elected unopposed as ZPMs, of whom 102 are from the BJP, two are from the PPA, one is from the NPP, and one is an independent candidate.
Of the 3,273 unopposed candidates at the gram panchayat level, the BJP secured 2,634 seats, independents 306, NPP 163, INC 129, JD (U) 35, and PPA 6. The secretary also informed that re-polling has been completed in Longding and Kamle districts, while polls will take place for the remaining areas in Upper Subansiri district in the next two to three days.
Till the filing of this report, only Upper Siang, Leparada and Dibang Valley districts had submitted the full results of both zilla and gram panchayat polls to the SEC. In Upper Siang, the BJP secured nine of the 10 zilla parishad seats, while one was won by an independent candidate.
Of the 233 gram panchayat segments, BJP won 211, while the remaining 22 were won by independent candidates. In Leparada, the BJP won four of the six zilla parishad seats, while the NPP won two.
Of the 173 gram panchayat segments, the BJP won 85, the NPP won 74 and independent candidates secured 14 seats. In Dibang Valley, the BJP won all of the four zilla parishad seats and all of the 71 gram panchayat seats.
Additional reports from various districts: With a stronghold in the capital, the JD (U) secured both seats of the Borum and the Baat-Ganga zilla parishads. Tok Tama was elected as the ZPM from Borum panchayat, while Taro Tagia was elected as the ZPM from Baat-Ganga panchayat.
In East Siang district, of the total 14 zilla parishads seats, the BJP won eight seats, the INC won 5 and one seat was secured by an independent candidate. Of the total 247 gram panchayat seats, the BJP secured 116, the INC 117, and independent 14.
The gram panchayat election in East Siang also witnessed unopposed winners, with 84 from the BJP, 61 from the INC and four independent candidates.
Tawang: Lek Norbu (Independent) won the Zemeithang-Dudunghar ZP constituency, defeating his nearest rival Gom Tsering Naibu of the BJP by 407 votes.
A total of 1,641 votes were cast in favour of Norbu. The Lungla ZP constituency has also been won by independent candidate Thutan Gombu. He beat his nearest rival Tenzin Phuntsok, also an independent candidate, by 275 votes. A total of 2,061 votes including 55 VED, were cast in favour of Gombu.
West Kameng: The Thrizino ZP constituency was won by the BJP’s Lekhi Regisow, defeating his rival Gidu Delusow (Independent) by 110 votes. Regisow secured 616 votes. Independent candidate Nichang Jangju won the Nafra constituency. He defeated his nearest rival Deru Zongluju, also an independent candidate, by 286 votes. Jangju received 1,211 votes while Zongluju got 925 votes. The Jerigaon constituency was won by BJP candidate Chhowang Lamu Rongradu. He defeated independent candidate Monjen Kasidu, who got 625 votes, by a margin of 1,454 votes. The Bichom Namfri and Shergaon ZP constituencies were won by independent candidates.
While the Bichom Namfri constituency was won by Santi, the Shergaon constituency was won by Tsering Wangmu Lama. Santi won by a margin of 47 votes against her rival Rina Lali of the BJP, who got 197 votes. Lama defeated Tsering Wangmu Thongon of the BJP by 52 votes. Lama secured 351 votes.
Lower Subansiri: The Pitapool zilla parishad constituency was won by independent candidate Nabum Piju. He defeated the BJP’s Taw Aatu by 30 votes.
The Deed zilla parishad constituency has been won by the BJP’s Likha Sang Chhore by a margin of 893 votes against independent candidate Debia Sanka, who got 808 votes. The BJP’s Bamin Gambo won the Diibo zilla parishad constituency. He beat independent candidate Michi Chobin by a margin of 281 votes. Chobin got 602 votes.
The Tajang Zilla parishad constituency was won by the BJP’s Nyilang Rika. He got 409 votes and defeated his rival Nyilang Tade (Independent) by 49 votes. The Reru zilla parishad constituency was won by the BJP’s Nani Jalyang. She secured 1,081 votes and defeated her contestant Padi Anku (Independent) by 512 votes.
The Reru Kalung constituency was won by the PPA’s Subu Lento. He secured 622 votes while his rival BJP’s Kalung Tatung got only 269 votes. The Hari South constituency was won by independent candidate Tasso Tana. He beat the BJP’s Hage Hanya by a margin of 300 votes. Tana got 915 votes.
Niichi ZP constituency was won by the JD (U)’s Punyo Kathe. She defeated her rival Hibu Dumi of the BJP by 178 votes. Kathe got 807 votes. The Niitii zilla parishad constituency was won by the JD (U)’s Tapi Habung. He beat the BJP’s Kago Kampu by a margin of 105 votes. A total 842 votes were polled in favour of the JD (U) candidate.