Shillong, May 29: Officials in Meghalaya are fully prepared for the election for the state’s lone Rajya Sabha seat, Chief Electoral Officer BDR Tiwari stated today.
The election will take place on June 18, with the term of the sitting MP, Wanweiroy Kharlukhi, set to end on June 21.
Although no candidates have yet been put forward by any political party, the vote is expected to be largely a formality as the National People’s Party (NPP) holds an absolute majority in the Assembly even without taking into consideration the strength of its allies. Kharlukhi is also of the NPP but has chosen not to run again.
The Election Commission of India has scheduled the formal issuance of the election notification on June 1, while the last date for filing nominations is June 8. Scrutiny of nomination papers will be held on June 9, and candidates may withdraw their nominations until June 11.
Polling will take place on June 18 from 9am to 4pm, while the counting of votes will commence at 5pm on the same day. The entire election process is expected to be completed before June 20.
Earlier in the day, election officials, along with representatives of the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly, inspected the polling venue and expressed satisfaction with the arrangements made in compliance with Election Commission guidelines.
Tiwari also informed that political parties have been briefed on the election procedure, which will be conducted under the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote and the open ballot system as provided under the Representation of the People Act 1951.
Explaining the voting procedure, Tiwari said MLAs belonging to political parties are required to show their marked ballot papers only to the authorised agents of their respective parties, while independent legislators are not permitted to display their ballot papers to any agent.
Separately, on the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, Tiwari said the election machinery is fully prepared, with Booth Level Officers currently undergoing training for door-to-door voter verification and distribution of enumeration forms.
