GUWAHATI: Tapuk Taku of the National People’s Party (NPP) had lost all hopes when he was trailing behind his BJP rival Ealing Tallang by 49 votes at the end of counting of votes cast through electronic voting machines (EVMs).
However, the fate of the NPP candidate in Seppa East seat of Assembly elections in Arunachal Pradesh changed altogether when the votes cast through postal ballots were counted.
Tallang polled 3,759 votes – 49 more than Taku – when the votes cast in EVMs were counted on Thursday. However, when the postal ballots were counted on Friday, it emerged that Taku received 474 votes, 78 more than Tallang’s 396. Taku ended up with 4,184 votes as against Tallang’s 4,155 votes – a difference of 29 votes.
One postal ballot was cast for NOTA or none of the above. In a state where an Assembly segment with 10,000 voters is considered a big constituency, each vote counts.
In at least three other seats, double-digit figures sealed the fate of candidates.
Pasang Dorjee Sona of the BJP defeated his NPP rival Tori Ragyor by 68 votes to win Mechuka seat, Talem Taboh of Janata Dal (United) edged past his BJP rival Tamiyo Taga by 85 votes in Rumgong seat and Wanglin Lowangdong of the Congress defeated Jowang Hosai of the BJP by 97 votes in Borduria-Bogapani seat.