Rajasthan panchayat elections: First phase of polling today, 519 seats in fray

The Rajasthan panchayat polls are being conducted to elect the representatives in seats for as many as 200 zila parishad and 1,564 panchayat samiti members. One zila parishad and 26 panchayat samiti members have already been elected unopposed.

The first phase of the Rajasthan panchayat polls will be held today (Thursday, August 26), in which voting in six districts of the state will be held to elect the zila parishad and panchayat samiti members. As many as 519 seats are in the fray, with the elections to two seats postponed due to "litigation reasons", according to news agency PTI, which cited a spokesperson of the state election commission. These two seats are situated in the Jalsu and Virat Nagar panchayat samiti, the official familiar with the matter was quoted as saying by PTI.

In the first phase of the Rajasthan panchayat polls, there are 26.55 lakh eligible voters. (Representational Image)

The Rajasthan panchayat polls are being conducted to elect the representatives in seats for as many as 200 zila parishad and 1,564 panchayat samiti members. One zila parishad and 26 panchayat samiti members have already been elected unopposed.

Polling will begin in the first phase of the Rajasthan panchayat elections from 7:30am on Thursday and will go on till 5:30pm, according to schedule announced by the state election commission. The polling is expected to take place in as many as 3,599 booths spanning the six districts - Bharatpur, Dausa, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Sawai Madhopur, and Sirohi.

In the first phase of the Rajasthan panchayat polls, there are 26.55 lakh eligible voters. A total of 77,94,300 voters are registered in the six districts, of which 41.23 lakh are male and 36.71 lakh are female.

PS Mehra, the state election commissioner in Rajasthan, said on Wednesday that all necessary preparations for the panchayat elections have been completed. Adequate strength of security personnel has been deployed, he said, adding that officials will ensure "free and fair polls" and also enforce all coronavirus disease (Covid-19)-related norms wherever necessary.

The Rajasthan panchayat elections are being held in three phases. While the first phase of the polls commences from Thursday, the second and third phases of these elections will take place on August 29 and September 1, respectively. The counting of votes for the Rajasthan panchayat polls will be done on September 4.