In a significant development ahead of the December 15 panchayat and municipal elections, the Arunachal Pradesh State Election Commission (SEC) has announced that 63 candidates have already been elected unopposed. The early results underline the strong hold of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) across the state’s grassroots political landscape.
According to the SEC, the BJP secured 58 zila parishad constituencies without facing any opposition, while one seat went uncontested to a nominee from the National People’s Party (NPP). In the urban local body elections, four BJP candidates were elected unopposed to the Itanagar Municipal Corporation (IMC). The withdrawal of nominations concluded on November 30, clearing the way for these early victories.
Despite a large volume of filings across rural and urban bodies, many seats saw little or no competition. The SEC revealed that 440 candidates are now in the fray for 186 zila parishad constituencies. Additionally, 39 candidates will contest for 16 IMC wards, while 21 candidates will compete for the eight wards of the Pasighat Municipal Council (PMC).
The nomination process witnessed high participation, with 600 nominations filed for 245 zila parishad seats, 10,550 for 8,182 gram panchayat posts, 101 for 20 IMC wards, and 28 for eight PMC wards. Scrutiny of nominations was completed on November 26. However, the SEC noted that 13 gram panchayat constituencies received no nominations, and papers for 14 gram panchayat seats were rejected. Polling in the Dumba Singpho gram panchayat constituency has been countermanded following the death of a candidate whose nomination had been accepted.
