Polling underway for panchayat elections in Goa

Panaji: Polling began this morning to elect new bodies for all 186 panchayats in Goa.

No long queues were seen outside the polling stations where the voting began at 8 am.

The elections are being held for 186 panchayat bodies consisting of 1,450 wards, out of which 540 have been reserved for scheduled caste/scheduled tribe (SC/ST) and other backward class (OBC) candidates and 490 for women including 323 in general category.

As many as 5,297 candidates are in fray for the elections and over 7.49 lakh people are eligible to cast their votes.

As per information available with the State Election Commission, around 70 polling booths have been identified as sensitive, hypersensitive and critical.

Elaborate security arrangements have been made with nearly 6,500 policemen guarding the 1,246 polling booths where votes would be polled through ballot paper.

The polling would culminate at 5 pm.