NC Hill Autonomous Council poll: 1,11,645 voters to decide fate of 87 candidates

HAFLONG: A total of 1,11,645 voters will decide the fate of 87 candidates in the 13th NC Hill Autonomous Council election, which will be held on Monday.

As many as 101 candidates have filed their candidatures, and of them, eight have withdrawn their nominations. Thus, 93 candidates are in fray for the poll. While the BJP fielded 28 candidates, INC fielded 24, TMC 11, AAP 5, and the rest 27 are independent candidates.

The poll will be held for 22 seats out of 28 seats (excluding 2 nominated seats), as the BJP has already won in 6 constituencies, i.e., Maibang East, Maibang West, Hajadisa, Harangajao, Gunjung, and Hamri. Exempting 49 polling stations from six constituencies out of 280, 22 have been marked as very sensitive, 92 are sensitive, and the rest are comprehensively safe.

Dima Hasao, DC Simanta Kumar Das said that a CCTV camera and microobserver will be set up in very sensitive stations, and sensitive polling stations will have microobservers. Both will have a videographer and a security team from both the central and state police.

The voting will begin at 8 a.m. and end at 4 p.m. The results will be declared on January 12, 2024.