ITANAGAR, Dec 9 - Altogether 6,266 candidates have been declared elected unopposed in the two-tier panchayat elections in Arunachal Pradesh, including 98 Zilla Parishad Members (ZPMs) and 6,168 Gram Panchayat Members (GPMs), according to the updated data made available by the State poll panel here this evening.
Out of the total of 242 Zilla Parishad constituencies, 142 will go for polls as 98 candidates have been declared elected uncontested after the last date of withdrawal of nomination papers on Monday, the State Election Commission (SEC) said.
Elections to the Vijaynagar ZPM seat (along with 40 GPM constituencies) in Changlang district and the Hawai North ZPM constituency under Anjaw district have been �kept in abeyance�.
According to the poll panel data, of the 8,175 GPM constituencies, 1,670 will go for polls. Dibang Valley district has registered hundred per cent win without any contest. The eastern Arunachal district has four ZPM seats and 71 GPM constituencies.
Earlier, the ruling BJP bagged five out of 20 wards of the Itanagar Municipal Corporation unopposed. Thirty-six candidates remain in the fray for the remaining 15 wards. Out of the 36 nominees, 15 are from the BJP, 14 from the Janata Dal (United), four from the National People�s Party (NPP) and three from the Congress, as per the SEC data.
In the Pasighat Municipal Council, all eight wards will go to polls with altogether 17 candidates in fray. Except for Ward No. 3, all seven wards will witness a straight fight between the ruling BJP and the Opposition Congress. However, Ward No. 3 is set to witness a triangular fight with the third party being the NPP.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Pema Khandu, in a tweet, claimed that the BJP won 96 ZPMs, 5,410 GPMs and five Corporators� seats.
�An impressive start for @BJP4Arunachal in State�s Panchayat and Municipal polls 2020. Congratulations to all the candidates from BJP who have won unopposed. Also thanks to the people of Arunachal for their unwavering trust in @BJP4India and PM @narendramodi Ji�s leadership,� Khandu tweeted.
The polling for the two-tier Panchayat bodies and both the civic bodies of Itanagar and Pasighat will be held simultaneously in a single phase on December 22.
