Shillong, Jan 13, 2023, IANS

Shillong, Jan 13 (IANS): Voters living in the areas along the disputed border with Assam will be allowed to cast their votes in the upcoming Assembly elections in Meghalaya, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar said here on Friday.

"We are alive to the situation and there is nothing to worry about. We have reviewed the situation and district officials from both sides of the inter-state border have had detailed meetings," Kumar told the media after a series of meetings with the political parties and officials on Thursday and Friday.

Assam and Meghalaya have disputes in 12 locations along the 884.9 km long inter-state border.

The two states had earlier signed a memorandum of understanding in March last year to resolve six of the 12 disputed areas, while discussions are going on to resolve the remaining six disputed areas.

Kumar, accompanied by two Election Commissioners -- Anup Chandra Pandey and Arun Goel along with and senior EC officials -- said that all steps would be taken to ensure a free, fair and participative elections in Meghalaya

The CEC said that 21,61,729 voters, including 10,92,326 females and 81,443 first-time electors, in Meghalaya are eligible to exercise their franchise in 3,482 polling stations covering 55 ST reserved seats and five general constituencies.

From Meghalaya, the Election Commission team went to Nagaland and held a series of meetings with the political parties and the state civil and security officials in Kohima.

Nagaland's Chief Electoral Officer V. Shashank Shekhar and state police nodal officers also gave a presentation on the poll preparedness during the meetings.

Later, the ECI team also had an interaction with the first-time voters. After holding meetings in Nagaland, the EC team is likely to return to Delhi on January 14 or 15.