Necessary arrangements for the vote counting of Meghalaya’s two Lok Sabha constituencies on June 4 have been finalized, officials confirmed. Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) BDR Tiwari held a meeting with representatives from all political parties, providing a detailed presentation on the counting procedures. The CEO’s office announced that the vote counting will commence promptly at 8:00 AM. A total of 369 tables will be used for the process, distributed across seven districts under the 1-Shillong (ST) parliamentary constituency (PC) and five districts under the 2-Tura (ST) PC. Specifically, 244 tables will be deployed for the Tura constituency and 125 for Shillong.
The 15-Mawlai assembly segment, the largest in terms of the number of electors, will undergo counting in nine rounds. There will be eight counting centers for the 1-Shillong (ST) PC and five for the 2-Tura (ST) PC.The Election Commission of India has appointed 18 counting observers to ensure the process runs smoothly. Twelve observers will oversee the 1-Shillong constituency, while six will monitor the 2-Tura constituency.The Lok Sabha elections for the Shillong and Tura constituencies were held on April 19. The Shillong parliamentary seat recorded a voter turnout of 73.78 percent, whereas the Tura seat saw an 81.37 percent turnout.
In the Shillong constituency, incumbent MP Vincent H. Pala of the Congress faces tough competition from Ampareen Lyngdoh of the NPP and Ricky A J Syngkon of the VPP. Other notable candidates include Robertjune Kharjahrin of the UDP and two independent candidates, Lakhon Kma and Peter Shallam. Meanwhile, the Tura constituency features a four-corner contest with incumbent MP Agatha Sangma of the NPP competing against Saleng Sangma of the Congress, Zenith Sangma of the Trinamool Congress, and independent candidate Laben Marak.