Arunachal Pradesh panchayat and municipal elections set for December 15

Guwahati: The State Election Commission (SEC) announced on Saturday that panchayat and municipal elections in Arunachal Pradesh will be held simultaneously on 15 December.

A total of 8.3 lakh voters across the state are eligible to cast their votes in the elections.

State Election Commissioner Rinchin Tashi said the poll notification will be issued on 17 November, and the last date for filing nominations is 24 November.

Scrutiny of nomination papers will take place on 26 November, and the final date for withdrawal of nominations is 29 November.

Counting of votes is scheduled for 20 December.

Tashi noted that this will be the 12th general election for panchayat bodies since the NEFA Panchayat Regulation of 1967 and the third municipal election for Itanagar and Pasighat, the only two civic bodies in the state.

Currently, Arunachal Pradesh has 27 zilla parishads with 245 constituencies and 2,103 gram panchayats comprising 8,181 constituencies.

The Itanagar Municipal Corporation (IMC) has 20 wards, while the Pasighat Municipal Council (PMC) has eight wards.

A total of 8,31,648 voters are eligible, including 7,59,210 for panchayat elections and 72,438 for municipal polls. Tashi added that women voters outnumber men in the panchayat electorate.

Upper Subansiri district has the highest number of panchayat voters at 58,764, while Dibang Valley has the lowest at 3,854. In municipal elections, Itanagar’s Ward No. 19 has the largest voter count (5,106), and Pasighat’s Ward No. 6 has the smallest (812).

The SEC will establish 2,171 polling stations for panchayat elections, 67 for the IMC, and 12 for the PMC.

Ballot boxes will be used in panchayat polls, while electronic voting machines (EVMs) will be deployed in municipal elections.

More than 40,000 personnel, including 15,000 polling staff, will be deployed. To ensure smooth elections, the commission will appoint 29 general observers—one for each district and the two municipal bodies.

Special security measures will be implemented in sensitive districts such as Tirap, Changlang, and Longding.

With the announcement of the poll schedule, the model code of conduct has come into effect across the state.

Tashi urged political parties and all stakeholders to cooperate to ensure free, fair, and peaceful elections.