Stage set for results of Arunachal, Sikkim Assembly polls

Sikkim: The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party was leading in Arunachal Pradesh and the Sikkim Krantikari Morcha in Sikkim as the counting of votes in the Assembly elections started on Sunday.

On March 17, the Election Commission announced that counting of votes in the two Assembly polls will take place on June 2 instead of June 4, when the results in other states will be announced. There is no change in the date of counting of votes for the Lok Sabha polls in the two states.

The counting started at 6 am. As of 9 am, the ruling Sikkim Krantikari Morcha was leading in 29 of Sikkim’s 32 Assembly seats, according to data from the Election Commission. A party needs 17 seats to secure a majority in the Assembly. The Sikkim Democratic Front was leading in one seat.

The BJP was leading in 28 of Arunachal Pradesh’s 50 Assembly seats that went to polls, the Commission’s data showed. The National People’s Party was leading in eight seats, the Nationalist Congress Party in three, People’s Party of Arunachal in two and the Congress in one.

Arunachal Pradesh has total 60 Assembly constituencies. A party needs a total 31 seats to secure a majority in the state legislature.

Ten BJP candidates including Chief Minister Pema Khandu were elected unopposed to the Arunachal Pradesh Assembly on March 30 before polling. In five of these constituencies, Opposition parties did not field their candidates. In the other five seats, candidates of Opposition parties withdrew their nominations by March 30, which was the last day of withdrawal of candidature.

The polling for Arunachal Pradesh’s remaining 50 Assembly constituencies and two Lok Sabha seats was held on April 19.

On March 17, the poll panel said that the date of counting of votes in Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim had been changed because the term of their legislative Assemblies will expire on June 2. The election process needs to be completed before the term of the Assembly expires.

Besides Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim, Assembly polls in Andhra Pradesh and Odisha were held simultaneously with the Lok Sabha elections. The results of the Assembly polls in Andhra Pradesh and Odisha will be announced on June 4 along with those of the parliamentary elections.