Itanagar, December 26: The BJP on Saturday wrested the Pasighat Municipal Council (PMC) from the Congress by winning six of the eight seats of the civic body in Arunachal Pradesh, while the JD(U), in its maiden contest in the Itanagar Municipal Corporation polls, bagged nine wards. JD-U MLAs Joining BJP in Arunachal Unfortunate, Not Necessary: KC Tyagi.

The BJP, the ruling party in the state, won 10 seats, one short of the majority mark, in the 20-member Itanagar Municipal Corporation (IMC) and the NPP bagged one.

Among the 10 wards won by the BJP in the Itanagar civic body polls, five candidates were elected unopposed, a State Election Commission official said.

The Congress, which had won seven seats in the 2013 PMC elections, secured only two wards this time, and the party failed to open its account in the IMC polls.

The performance of the Janata Dal United in the civic polls assumes significance as the party received a major jolt in Arunachal Pradesh on Friday, with six of its seven MLAs shifting allegiance to the BJP.

The JD(U), led by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, won seven of the 15 seats it contested in the 2019 Arunachal assembly elections and emerged as the second-largest party after the BJP, which had bagged 41 seats.

The PMC had 12 seats, while the IMC had 30 during the 2013 civic polls. However, the number of seats of both the urban local bodies was reduced after delimitation of wards.

The Congress had won seven seats in the last PMC polls, the BJP bagged two and independent candidates emerged victorious in three.

The Congress managed to secure 21 seats in the 2013 IMC elections, followed by the NCP (4), the BJP (3). People''s Party of Arunachal (PPA) and an independent candidate won one each.

The civic elections have been delayed by over two years due to various reasons.

The counting of votes is also going on for 142 Zilla Parishad seats and 1,670 Gram Panchayat segments in the state, the SEC official said.

Seventy-three per cent voting was recorded in the rural and civic polls in the state on December 22.

According to the SEC, the BJP won 96 of the total 240 Zilla Parishad seats and 5,410 of the 8,291 gram panchayats without any contest.

At least 110 Gram Panchayat segments in the state have fallen vacant due to various reasons. The SEC will take a final call on conducting by-elections to these seats after the current electoral process is over, the official said.

Elections to the Zilla Parishad seat in Vijaynagar in Changlang district along with 40 Gram Panchayats and Hawai North Zilla Parishad segment in Anjaw were kept in abeyance.