Stage set for 12 gram panchayat elections today

Voting for 12 gram panchayat elections in Chandigarh will start at 8am and end at 5pm on Sunday.

Voting for 12 gram panchayat elections in Chandigarh will start at 8am and end at 5pm on Sunday.

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The elections will be held in village panchayats of Behlana, Rairpur Khurd, Rairpur Kalan, Makhan Majra, Daria, Mauli Jagran, Kishangarh, Kaimbwala, Khuda Ali Sher, Khuda Jassu, Khuda Lahora, Sarangpur and Dhanas.

“There are 50 polling booths for a total of about 40,000 voters. About 1,000 police personnel have been deployed for security arrangements at the polling,” said Tarsem Lal, officer on special duty, election commission.

For the 132 seats of panch, 28 candidates have already been elected unopposed while for remaining 104 seats, as many as 225 candidates are in fray. There are a total of 44 candidates in fray for 11 seats of sarpanch.

The election commission has already distributed election symbols to the candidates.

Rakesh Mehta, election commissioner for these polls, has personally examined the poll arrangements.

During campaigning, the candidates backed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) laid stress on highlighting corruption issues such as rail gate, booth scam and 'unkept promises' of the Congress. On the other hand, candidates backed by the Congress highlighted the development work carried by the party.

Figures

40,000 voters
50 polling booths
132 seats of panch
28 elected unopposed
225 candidates in fray for remaining seats