E-Paper
Panchayat polls: Panchkula leads in Haryana, records 77.9% turnout
As many as 1,27,865 people, including over 68,000 males, over 59,000 females and 12 transgenders, were eligible to vote in four blocks of Panchkula – Pinjore, Raipur Rani, Morni and Barwala
As many as 77.9% votes were polled in Panchkula, highest in the state, to elect members of the zila parishad and block samitis as the first phase of Haryana panchayat polls got underway on Sunday.
Polling for the posts of sarpanch and panch of gram panchayats in the district will be held on November 2.
As many as 1,27,865 people, including over 68,000 males, over 59,000 females and 12 transgenders, were eligible to vote in four blocks of Panchkula – Pinjore, Raipur Rani, Morni and Barwala.
Among them, 77.9% voters turned up in all four blocks. At 78.8%, Pinjore block recorded the highest polling, followed by Raipur Rani with 78.2%, Morni with 77.5% and Barwala with 76.6%, as per the figures shared by the district administration.
Polling was held from 7 am to 6 pm in 42 wards for block samitis and 10 wards for the zila parishad. Among the total block samiti wards, 12 are in Raipur Rani, and 10 each in Morni, Barwala and Pinjore.
A total of 183 polling stations were set up for the elections. While 13 were declared sensitive, 13 were vulnerable.
While the turnout was only 20% till 11 am, the pace slowly picked up and 57.4% polling was recorded by 2.30 pm.
Around 1,200 police personnel remained on duty, with special focus on sensitive and vulnerable booths. Three supervisors, appointed by the deputy commissioner, kept a close watch on the proceedings.
The Haryana State Election Commission on Friday had announced the first phase of polls for all three tiers of panchayati raj institutions in nine of the 22 districts of the state.
This is the first time that voting for panch, sarpanch and members of block samitis and zila parishads in Haryana is being held on different days, as earlier, votes for all four posts were cast on the same day.
The second phase of polls at nine more districts will begin on November 9, when polling for zila parishad and panchayat samiti members will be held, which will be followed by polling for sarpanches and panches on November 12.
In the third and the final phase, polling at the remaining four districts for zila parishad and panchayat samitis will be held on November 22, while that to elect sarpanches and panches will be held on November 25.
