Rajasthan Panchayat polls witness over 62 per cent voter turnout in first phase

State Election Commissioner PS Mehra said the polling was held peacefully and 62.36 per cent turnout was registered, adding that the highest voting percentage of 72.22 was recorded in Keru panchayat samiti of Jodhpur.

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Jaipur: In the first phase of the polling to elect Panchayat Samiti and Zila Parishad members in six districts of Rajasthan, a voter turnout of 62.36 per cent was registered on Thursday, according to a state election commission official.

State Election Commissioner PS Mehra said that the polling was held peacefully and 62.36 per cent turnout was registered. Mishra said that the highest voting percentage of 72.22 was recorded in Keru panchayat samiti of Jodhpur.

The polling started at 7.30 am amid tight security arrangements at around 3500 booths in the six districts of Bharatpur, Dausa, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Sawai Madhopur and Sirohi amid Covid protocols and guidelines.

The Panchayat elections are being held in three phases starting from Thursday to elect a total of 200 members of six zila parishads and 1,564 members of 78 panchayat samitis.

The second and third phase of polling will be held on August 29 and September 1, and the counting will take place on September 4.

Rajasthan has 33 zila parishads and 352 panchayat samitis. Of these, the polls in 21 districts were held in November-December last year. One zila parishad member and 26 panchayat samiti members have already been elected unopposed. 

In the first phase, 26.55 lakh people were eligible to vote. A total of 77,94,300 voters are registered in the six districts, of which 41.23 lakh are males and 36.71 lakh females.

The elections in the remaining 12 districts could not take place due to a High Court stay on the creation of 19 new municipalities in these districts as the area of Panchayati Raj Institutions was revised.

After the litigation issue on the delimitation process was resolved in February, the state election commission finalised voters' lists for the six districts.

The voters' list in the remaining districts of Alwar, Baran, Dholpur, Karauli, Kota and Ganganagar was also finalised recently and the elections will be held later. 

Since Panchayat polls are being conducted amid strict Covid protocols and guidelines, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Thursday appealed to the people to stay alert and follow all coronavirus-related guidelines to reduce the risk of infection.

Gehlot said the delta variant of the virus has reduced the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccine and in some countries, booster doses are being administered.

(With Agency Inputs)