Himachal Pradesh will witness panchayat polls on Sunday when first of the three-phased electoral exercise will take place. The voting will take place from 8 am to 4 pm.
Electoral officer Sanjeev Mahajan told news agency PTI that 1,227 panchayats will go to polls today. The polling in remaining two phases is scheduled for January 19 and 21, he further said.
The counting of votes for members of the panchayat samitis and zila parishads will be conducted on January 22.
As many as 7,583 polling parties have been set up to ensure smooth conduct of voting in the first phase. The candidates are contesting the elections as independents and not on party symbols this time.
The panchayat elections come at a timw when a massive nationwide Covid-19 vaccination programme has been launched. In Himachal Pradesh, 1,517 people were inoculated on the first day on Saturday, according to health authorities.
Hardeep Singh, a sanitation worker, was the first person in the state to be administered a shot. After him, Indira Gandhi Medical College (IGMC) senior medical superintendent Janak Raj got vaccinated.
A consignment of 93,000 doses of Covid-19 vaccine had reached the state capital on Thursday.
The consignment of Covishield vaccine, produced by Pune-based Serum Institute of India, had been airlifted from Pune to Chandigarh, from where it was brought to Shimla by road.
{{/usCountry}}The consignment of Covishield vaccine, produced by Pune-based Serum Institute of India, had been airlifted from Pune to Chandigarh, from where it was brought to Shimla by road.
{{/usCountry}}The state government has constituted state-level steering committee, state task force, district task force and block task force to monitor effectively administration of vaccination against the coronavirus disease.