E-Paper
First phase of panchayat polls begins in Haryana from today
Polling to elect members of zila parishad and block samiti will be held in nine districts of Haryana, election for the panches and sarpanches in these districts will be held on November 2
: The first phase of the long-delayed elections to the panchayati raj institutions in Haryana will begin on Sunday in nine districts to elect members of the block samiti and zila parishad.
The election for the panches and sarpanches in these districts will be held on November 2.
This is the first time when voting for panch, sarpanch and members of block samiti and zila parishad will be held on different days in Haryana as earlier, votes for all four posts were cast on the same day.
As per the election schedule issued by the state election commission, the voting for the posts of block samiti and zila parishad in the first phase will be held in Bhiwani, Jhajjar, Jind, Kaithal, Mahendergarh, Nuh, Panchkula, Panipat and Yamunanagar districts from 7 am to 6 pm.
An election commission official said that electronic voting machines will be used for sarpanches, panchayat samiti, and zila parishad. For panches, ballot papers will be used.
In the first phase, the ruling BJP is contesting for zila parishads in three districts of Panchkula, Yamunanagar and Nuh, a state party leader said.
The main opposition Congress is not contesting any of the elections —panch, sarpanch, block samiti members and zila parishad members, on the party symbol. In the first phase, 34,371 candidates are in the fray for the posts of panch, sarpanch and member, panchayat samiti and zila parishads. Of them, 19,175 are men and 15,196 women.
In Sunday polls, booths which are sensitive are 1,273, while 1,651 are hypersensitive, the election official said.
The total eligible voters for all the three phases of panchayat polls are 1.20 crore with more than 56 lakh women.
Arrangements in Kaithal, Panipat
In Kaithal, around 6.20 lakh voters will exercise their franchise to decide the fate of 451 candidates. Voting will be held for 21 seats of zila parishad and 153 of block samities in the district.
Kaithal returning officer Sangeeta Tetarwal said that there are 692 polling booths in the district with maximum 171 in Kalayat block.
Similarly, in Panipat, 4.57 lakh voters will cast their votes at 529 polling booths to decide the fate of 107 candidates in the fray for zila parishad and 473 candidates contesting for 17 seats for members of zila parishad and 134 seats for members of block samiti.
Panipat SP Shashank Kumar Sawan said that elaborate security arrangements have been put in place to deal with any untoward incidents. He said that there will be a special focus on 52 hyper sensitive and 34 sensitive polling stations in the district.
Sawan said that 1,293 cops and 645 Jawans of Haryana Home Guard will be deputed during the elections.
(With agency inputs)
