SHILLONG, APR 7:Hundreds of polling officials left for the designated polling stations on Monday and more will be leaving on Tuesday as Meghalaya Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) P Naik informed that ten thousand two hundred and forty eight polling officials have been deployed all over the state for April 9 Lok Sabha elections for the Shillong and Tura seats.
Naik said that the BSF have been asked to seal the border on Wednesday, the day of poll, even as additional forces have also been deployed along the 443 km Indo-Bangla international border in view of the poll boycott announced by the Hynniewtrep National Liberation Council (HNLC), a banned militant outfit in the Khasi – Jaintia Hills.
Campaigning in Meghalaya for the Shillong and Tura parliamentary constituency ends on Monday evening.
Shillong seat will witness multi-corner contest as the ruling Congress, the United Democratic Party and an independent candidate supported by two smaller regional parties are locked in the fight for the Shillong Lok Sabha seat while for the Tura seat the ruling Congress will try and defeat P A Sangma-led National People’s Party candidate.
Among the 10 candidates, major contestants are former Lok Sabha MP and NPP national president PA Sangma, sitting Shillong Congress MP Vincent Pala, former student leader Paul Lyngdoh and church leader PBM Basaiawmoit.
For the Tura seat, PA Sangma, who had held the seat eight out of 10 times until is daughter Agatha Sangma an NCP candidate contested and won in the last elections, is pitted against Congress nominee Daryl William Cheran Momin in a straight fight.
Of the 15, 53,028 voters, female voters outnumbered men voters by 13,512.
Meghalaya Director General of Police PJP Hanaman said 2562 (85 per cent of which are in the militant-hit Garo Hills region) identified as hyper sensitive and 375 are classified as sensitive.
“Polling stations along the international border with Bangladesh and inter-state border with Assam were also classified as hyper sensitive apart from those in the militant-hit Garo Hills region,” Hanaman said.
Admitting there were not enough security personnel in view of the elections held all over the country, Hanaman said ‘adequate’ security personnel have been deployed according to the Election Commission of India’s guidelines.- By Our Reporter
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