General election 2014 concludes peacefully in Sikkim: D Anandan

EOI, PR, Gangtok: Addressing a press meet today, Sikkim Chief Electoral Officer D Anandan said the parliamentary elections were peacefully conducted across the 538 polling stations in the state on April 12 with no untoward incident being reported from any region. Voting procedure commenced at 7am and continued till 5pm. However, the process lasted till 9pm at some venues to indicate the remarkable increase in the number of voters, he noted.

Anandan said the total turn-out in the state was 81 per cent and this is likely to increase following the inclusion of the postal ballots. The western part of the state recorded 82.94 per cent, east 79.03 per cent, south 81.77 per cent, while the north accounted for 81.38 per cent of total votes cast. Of the total, the male turnout was 80.48 per cent, while the figure was 81.47 per cent in terms of female voters. The Yuksom Tashiding Assembly Constituency marked the highest turnout with 10,076 out of 11,852 exercising their franchise, while Gangtok ranked the least as just 6,629 votes were polled out of the total 10,051.

The CEO appreciated the electorate of Sikkim saying the state has proved to the country that its residents are aware of their fundamental rights. He said the EVMs have been securely obtained from the voting sites and locked under 24-hour CCTV surveillance in the presence of representatives of all political parties as well as observers.

A company of the West Bengal police has been deployed in each district while a fire engine has been stationed outside each of the strong rooms containing the EVMs. Candidates and representatives of political parties have also been granted permission to be present outside the strong rooms to ensure maximum transparency to the entire voting exercise, added the CEO.

Anandan said 3,500 polling personnel were assigned as presiding officers while 4,250 police officials served in various venues. He specially acknowledged the efforts of sub-inspector Dawa Lhamu Pakhrin and Sho Sherethang who personally rescued polling agents who had got stuck in snowfall near the Tshangu Lake area around 3.00am.

He further thanked members and candidates of all political parties, security officials, surveillance teams, polling workers and media personnel for contributing towards the peaceful conclusion of the election.