The Election Commission of India is likely to announce the schedule for the Assembly election in three northeastern states – Meghalaya, Tripura and Nagaland by January 19.
According to sources, the election date, counting date along with the date for notifying the polls, dates for filing of nominations, scrutiny and withdrawal of nominations etc are likely to be announced by January 19 by the Election Commission in New Delhi.
The last Assembly elections in Meghalaya were held on February 27, 2018. The results were declared on March 3, 2018.
It may be mentioned that the full election commission headed by Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar last week (January 11 to 14) visited the three north-eastern states and reviewed the election arrangements.
Kumar along with the two Election Commissioners Anup Chandra Pandey and Arun Goel visited Shillong on January 12 and 13 and held discussion with Chief Electoral Officer Frederick Roy Kharkongor and other top government officials on the preparations for the Assembly polls.
The five-year term of the Assemblies of Nagaland, Meghalaya and Tripura would end on March 12, March 15 and March 22, respectively.
As per rules, new Assemblies have to be constituted before the end of the term.
A total of 21,61,729 voters in Meghalaya are eligible to exercise their franchise in 55 reserved seats for Scheduled Tribes and five unreserved constituencies in the upcoming elections. Of these, 81,443 electors will be eligible to cast their votes for the first time.
The State has 7478 voters in the category of person with disabilities, 290 centenarian voters and 22658 voters aged 80 years and above.
The total number of polling stations will be 3482. These include 325 in urban areas and 3157 in rural areas.
According to the Election Commission, there would be a total of 3,482 polling stations in the State with an average of 620 voters in each. 120 booths will be managed by women officials.
Various political parties including NPP, Congress, UDP, Trinamool Congress, PDF and Voice of People Party have announced their list of candidates for the upcoming polls.
