Shillong, Aug. 18 : Round-the-clock video surveillance and deployment of micro-observers in all the 25 polling booths of Laitumkhrah will ensure a free and fair bypoll tomorrow.
The byelection is crucial for the Congress-led Meghalaya United Alliance (MUA) as its tally will increase to 27 from the present 26 in a House of 60.
Chief electoral officer P. Naik today said since it was a byelection, enough security personnel were at the disposal of the election department.
“Moreover, we have enough cameras to be placed in all the 25 polling booths to record the proceedings till the end of the elections and the micro-observers will also be present,” he said.
As the Laitumkhrah seat is precious for both the Congress and the UDP, the election department does not want to see any booth capturing or other malpractice during polling.
“We want to ensure that the byelection takes place smoothly without any hindrance,” Naik said.
After D.D. Lapang became chief minister in May, the Congress legislators close to him wanted to see that party candidate Ampareen Lyngdoh won the byelection.
The UDP is trying hard to retain the seat after its member Ampareen Lyngdoh switched over her allegiance to the Congress.
During the campaign, UDP candidate Malcolm Tariang and others had termed the change of stand of Ampareen as betrayal of the trust of the people of Laitumkhrah.
Besides Tariang and Ampareen, others in the fray include Stephen Nongbet (BJP), Romeo Phira Rani (HSPDP) and Independents Andrew Aibok Jyrwa and George Garry Nongkhlaw.
There are a total of 14,912 voters (6,879 male and 8,033 female) in Laitumkhrah. There are also 19 postal votes.
After D.D. Lapang became chief minister in May, the Congress legislators close to him wanted to see that party candidate Ampareen Lyngdoh won the byelection. However, there is already a divided opinion among the Congress MLAs on the manner in which Lapang had neglected the senior legislators while choosing his team of ministers.
There are also reports that some senior Congress legislators are not happy with the induction of Ampareen in the cabinet as she is no longer a legislator.
According to them, Lapang had ignored seniority and inducted a newcomer and non-legislator in the ministry. The byelection was necessitated in Laitumkhrah after Ampareen, who got elected as a UDP candidate, resigned as MLA on March 31 when there was a move on the part of the Congress to topple the NCP-UDP-led Meghalaya Progressive Alliance government.
After the formation of the Congress-led MUA government, Ampareen was inducted into the ministry and will be contesting the election on a Congress ticket.