Logistical arrangements for the upcoming local body bye-elections in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands have been formally outlined, with the Election Commission for the Union Territories publishing details of designated strong rooms and counting centres across multiple tehsils. The elections are scheduled for February 8, 2026, to fill casual vacancies in several Gram Panchayat Member constituencies, a Zilla Parishad Member seat and a municipal ward councillor post.
The constituencies going to polls include Madhupur-6 of Gram Panchayat Madhupur under Diglipur tehsil, Bakultala-3 of Gram Panchayat Bakultala under Rangat tehsil, Mannarghat-4 of Gram Panchayat Mannarghat and Bambooflat-1 of Gram Panchayat Hope Town under Ferrargunj tehsil. In addition, elections will be held for the Zilla Parishad Member constituency of Mayabunder in North and Middle Andaman and for the Ward Councillor of Ward No. 17 under the Sri Vijaya Puram Municipal Council.
For Ferrargunj tehsil, the strong room for the Mannarghat-4 constituency has been designated at Police Station Bambooflat, while counting will take place at the Forest Training Institute in Wimberlygunj. For the Bambooflat-1 constituency under Hope Town Gram Panchayat, the counting centre has been identified as the conference hall of the Divisional Forest Officer (South Andaman) office at Wimberlygunj.
In Rangat tehsil, election materials for the Bakultala-3 constituency will be kept in Room No. 13 of the Administrative Block at the Assistant Commissioner’s office, Rangat. Counting of votes for this seat will be conducted at the office of the Divisional Forest Officer, Middle Andaman, Rangat.
For the Mayabunder Zilla Parishad Member constituency, the strong room has been fixed at the Tehsil Office in Mayabunder, while counting will be held at PM Shri Government Model Senior Secondary School, Mayabunder. In Diglipur tehsil, materials for the Madhupur-6 Gram Panchayat constituency will be secured at Police Station Diglipur, with counting scheduled at the GPOA Building, an administrative building in Diglipur.
Within Sri Vijaya Puram, arrangements have been made at Jawaharlal Nehru Rajkeeya Mahavidyalaya for the municipal ward poll. Room No. 401 of JNRM College has been designated as the strong room, while Room No. 402 of the same institution will function as the counting room for Ward No. 17. These provisions cover wards 17-1 to 17-7 under the municipal council.
Strong rooms are used for the secure storage of election materials, including ballot-related documents and equipment, under prescribed security protocols. Counting centres are designated spaces where votes are tallied after polling concludes. By publishing these locations in advance, election authorities provide transparency and enable candidates, political representatives and officials to be aware of the procedural infrastructure tied to the polls.
The notification of these arrangements forms part of the broader election management process, which covers polling station planning, security deployment, material movement and counting procedures. With multiple rural and urban seats involved, the distribution of strong rooms and counting centres across tehsils reflects the geographically spread nature of the electoral exercise in the Islands. The February 8 polls will thus be supported by a network of designated facilities aimed at ensuring orderly custody and counting of election materials.
