Guwahati: By around 10am on Friday, the day when voters in 102 Lok Sabha constituencies in 21 states and Union Territories cast their votes in the first phase of Lok Sabha elections, Malogam, a remote village in Arunachal Pradesh's Anjaw district, close to India's border with China, registered 100 per cent polling.
Its only voter, Sokhela Tayang, a woman, turned up to the makeshift polling station in her traditional attire and cast her vote, both for Lok Sabha polls and the the state Assembly elections.
A five-member election team including two security personnel trekked the hills, crossed rivers and streams for about 40-hours with two EVMs and other materials on their shouldiers on Thursday and made sure that Tayang, 44, could cast her vote in her own village.
"Every vote is important and everyone should cast their vote," Tayang said in a video shared by the office of the Chief Electoral Officer, Arunachal Pradesh at 4pm on Friday.
"The team is trekking back to Hayuliang circle headquarters in Anjaw district," said an election official in Arunachal Pradesh capital Itanagar, situated about 300km away. "A crew of Sansad TV also accompanied the election team to Malogam today to winesss Tayang's voting and let people in rest of the country know about it," the official said. He, however, could not provide further details of the team.
In the video of the Sansad TV, Tayang said Malogam had four to five families in the past but all shifted to other places as her village does not have a road.
"Today i want to appeal to the governemnt to construct a road so that they comes back," she said. "I am really happy and thankful to the government and the election officials that they took so much trouble to make sure that I can vote in my village itself," Tayang further said.
Tayang lives alone in the village as her husband, Janelum Tayang transferred his vote a few years ago to another place in Anjaw where he works.
Polling till 5pm:
By 5pm on Friday, 67.61 per cent voters in Arunachal Pradesh cast their votes for the 50 out of the 60 Assembly constituencies.
Ten BJP candidates were earlier elected unopposed. Malogam falls under Hayuliang Assembly constituency, where Dasanglu Pul, the widow of former Arunachal Pradesh CM Kalikho Pul, was elected as BJP MLA in 2019. Kalikho Pull died in 2016.
Dasanglu is seeking re-election from Hayuliang this time. The village comes under Arunachal East Lok Sabha seat, where sitting BJP MP Tapir Gao is pitted against Bosiram Siram of Congress.
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