First phase of 3-tier PRI polls in Haryana on Oct 30, Nov 2

The Haryana State Election Commission on Friday announced the first phase of the polls to all the three tiers of panchayati raj institutions in 10 out of the 22 districts of the state, with the zila parishad and panchayat samiti elections to be held on October 30 and panchayat poll to be conducted on November 2

The Haryana State Election Commission on Friday announced the first phase of the polls to all the three tiers of panchayati raj institutions in 10 out of the 22 districts of the state, with the zila parishad and panchayat samiti elections to be held on October 30 and panchayat poll to be conducted on November 2.

State election commissioner Dhanpat Singh announcing the Haryana zila parishad and panchayat election schedule in Panchkula on Friday. (Sant Arora/HT)

The ten districts to where the first phase would be held are Bhiwani, Fatehabad, Jhajjar, Jind, Kaithal, Mahendergarh, Nuh, Panchkula, Panipat and Yamunanagar.

State election commissioner Dhanpat Singh said in Panchkula that the poll schedule for the remaining 12 districts would be announced later. With this, the model code of conduct has come into force in the 10 districts going to the polls in the first phase.

“No official connected with election work shall be transferred from his/her present place of posting till the completion of the poll process,” Singh said.

Filing of nomination papers for the first phase will be from October 14 to 19 and polling will be conducted from 7am to 6pm.

Haryana has 22 zila parishads, comprising 411 members. The members will in turn elect the 22 zila parishad chiefs. The state has 143 panchayat samitis, comprising 3,081 members, who will further elect their respective president.

The state has 6,220 gram panchayats, where more than 61,000 panches will be elected and 6,220 sarpanches will be chosen directly by villagers.

“Counting of votes for panches and sarpanches of gram panchayats will take place on the same day, while counting for zila parishad and panchayat samiti members election, which are expected to be held on party lines and can have a bearing on the results of other districts, will take place after polling in the remaining districts,” Singh said.

The total eligible voters for the panchayat polls are 1.20 crore with more than 56 lakh women, he said.

As many as 38,000 polling personnel, including returning officers, additional ROs, supervisory staff, presiding officers, polling officers, and security staff will be put on duty for a smooth conduct of these elections.

“EVMs will be used for sarpanches, panchayat samiti, and zila parishad, though it will not have VVPAT facility. For panches, ballot papers will be used. In all, 17,628 ballot boxes will be arranged,” he said.

Singh has asked the police, excise and taxation departments to keep a close watch on the sale of illicit liquor during the PRIs elections. He said regular raids and patrolling should be conducted continuously in those areas where any suspicious activities is reported.

A complete ban on the purchase and sale of liquor in these areas should be ensured a day before the polling and on the day of polling and counting of votes, he said. “There will be a complete ban on the sale of liquor within 1km of the polling area,” said Singh.