Jaipur, Oct 24 The first phase of panchayat elections across 16 districts in Rajasthan was held on Saturday amid reports of minor clashes, protests and allegations of bogus voting at some places, officials said.
A total of 3,314 gram panchayats went to the polls in the first phase to decide the fates of more than 16,500 candidates in the fray for the sarpanch’s posts, along with elections for 28,682 ward panch seats, they said.
According to official data, the polling, which was held from 7 am to 6 pm, recorded a turnout of 80.09 per cent, with the results expected to be announced late on Saturday night.
According to the figures released by the State Election Commission (SEC), Mangta in Barmer district recorded the highest turnout at 91.42 per cent, followed by Poogal in Bikaner at 90.55 per cent and Ramsar in Barmer at 90.03 per cent.
Rani Station in Pali district recorded the lowest turnout at 56.82 per cent, followed by Kalandri in Sirohi at 57.31 per cent, the data showed.
The polling was largely peaceful, barring a few incidents of violence and protests reported from some places.
In Alwar’s Reni panchayat samiti area, sarpanch candidate Rajendra Meena sat on a dharna along with his supporters outside a polling station, alleging bogus voting and demanding a repoll.
Police and administrative officials, including the tehsildar and the zonal magistrate, reached the polling station to calm the situation.
In Bikaner, police dispersed a crowd that had gathered at a polling station towards the end of voting in the Ridhmelsar Purohitan gram panchayat.
A minor clash between two groups was also reported from Mauzamabad in Jaipur district.
In Udaipur’s Bhinder area, a sarpanch candidate was allegedly attacked, while the residents of Dugariya village in Pali boycotted the polling.
A protest over alleged bogus voting was also reported from Bhilwara district.
The elections were held in Ajmer, Alwar, Barmer, Bhilwara, Bikaner, Dungarpur, Jaipur, Jhalawar, Jodhpur, Kota, Nagaur, Pali, Phalodi, Rajsamand, Sirohi and Udaipur districts.
These are the same 16 districts where polling for zila parishad and panchayat samiti members was held on October 22.
Barmer has the highest number of gram panchayats that went to the polls on Saturday at 419, followed by Bhilwara at 326, Phalodi at 305 and Udaipur at 284.
Bhilwara has the highest number of sarpanch candidates at 2,097, followed by Dungarpur at 1,594, Jaipur at 1,525 and Udaipur at 1,480.
Unlike the zila parishad and panchayat samiti polls, panch and sarpanch elections are not contested on political party symbols. The SEC allots election symbols to the candidates, although political parties mostly extend their support to the nominees.
The Panchayati Raj elections in Rajasthan are being held in four phases for 41 zila parishads, 457 panchayat samitis and 14,403 gram panchayats.
(PTI News)
