355 hyper sensitive polling stns for ADC polls in Meghalaya

The Meghalaya government has declared 355 polling stations 'hyper sensitive' and 210 as 'sensitive' for the February 24 elections to the two autonomous councils of the Khasi and Jaintia resident tribals.
Six districts in the state will go to the polls on February 24 for the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council (KHADC) and the Jaintia Hills Autonomous District Council (JHADC).
"We have identified as many as 145 polling stations for the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council (KHADC) and around 65 for the Jaintia Hills Autonomous District Council (JHADC) as hyper-sensitive, apart from 212 sensitive polling stations for the KHADC areas and 143 polling stations for the JHADC as on today," Jopthiaw Lyngdoh, Political Commissioner and Secretary, told reporters today.

There are 1148 polling stations for the KHADC and 344 for the JHADC.
He said the polling stations were classified as hyper sensitive and sensitive based on past records where murder cases and fatal incidents had taken place.
For the safe, free and fair conduct of the autonomous polls, 158 executive magistrates have been appointed in all six districts, the official said.

"145 officers have been conferred with magisterial powers and appointed as executive magistrates for the elections to the KHADC while 13 have been appointed for the JHADC polls," Lyngdoh said.
29 returning officers and 25 assistant returning officers have also been appointed for the elections to the KHADC and nine ROs and nine AROs for the JHADC, he said.

According to him, these officials will be tasked with the responsibilities of maintaining the law and order and violation against the model code of conduct during the election process.
The state's acting Chief Secretary P B O Warjri and police chief P J P Hanaman have scheduled their visit to the district headquarters in the coming days to review the law and order situation for smooth conduct of the elections.
Over 220 candidates are contesting for 29 seats in each of the councils in which over eight lakh tribal voters (8,77,615) will cast their votes.
The state government has estimated an expenditure of over Rs 9 crore for the elections to the two Autonomous Councils.