Northeast Desk, 12th April: In preparation for the forthcoming elections in Arunachal Pradesh, the Election Commission has announced the deployment of an extra 10 companies of central armed police forces (CAPFs) to safeguard the integrity of the electoral process. Scheduled for April 19, the elections will encompass the state’s 50 assembly seats and two Lok Sabha constituencies.
Chief Electoral Officer Pawn Kumar Sain disclosed that following a comprehensive assessment of ground reports, the Election Commission opted to reinforce security measures by dispatching additional paramilitary forces. Currently, a total of 70 companies of CAPFs, state armed police, and IRBn are stationed across various districts of the state. With the anticipated arrival of the new forces by next week, the total number of deployed security personnel will soar to 8,000, marking the highest-ever security deployment for elections in Arunachal Pradesh.
Sain stressed that the primary objective of this substantial security presence is to instill confidence and guarantee the safety of voters. In conjunction with the deployment of armed forces, the Election Commission is implementing supplementary measures such as webcasting at all polling stations and appointing micro-observers for critical polling stations. These observers will report to the general observers appointed by the EC to oversee the entire electoral process.
Underlining the comprehensive nature of election oversight, Sain mentioned the appointment of 15 general observers, six police observers, and 25 expenditure observers to monitor the poll proceedings in the state. To facilitate the smooth conduct of elections, a total of 11,130 polling personnel have been deployed, and 6,874 Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) will be utilized across 2,226 polling booths.