Over 80 pc polling recorded in first phase of Haryana panchayat election
Chandigarh, November 2
A turnout of more than 80 per cent was recorded in the election for panches and sarpanches in nine Haryana districts in the first of the three-phase voting on Wednesday.
“Barring a stray incident, polling remained peaceful,” Haryana State Election Commissioner Dhanpat Singh told PTI.
Officials said the polling percentage was more than 80 per cent.
The polling was held between 7 am and 6 pm in the districts of Bhiwani, Jhajjar, Jind, Kaithal, Mahendragarh, Nuh, Panchkula, Panipat and Yamunanagar.
Counting of votes was taken up immediately after the end of polling.
A few untoward incidents were reported from Nuh, Jhajjar and Kaithal districts.
In Nuh, some incidents of fight and stone pelting were reported from two villages between rival groups, though police said these incidents did not take place at the polling booth and the poll process remained unaffected.
Some people also sustained injuries in these incidents while a vehicle was damaged. There were reports of injury to a home guard too in these incidents.
“There was no incident at the polling booth. However, there were some incidents of fight and stone pelting in two villages,” Nuh Superintendent of Police Varun Singla told PTI over phone earlier in the day.
The polling process remained unaffected, Singla said.
Police, however, did not confirm reports that some firing incident too had taken place in Nuh district.
In Jhajjar, there was a brawl between agents of two candidates at a polling booth in Jahidpur village early in the morning during which the electronic voting machine (EVM) fell off. But there was no disruption in the poll, Jhajjar Superintendent of Police Waseem Akram said.
The situation was immediately brought under control and the polling completed peacefully, he told PTI over the phone.
In Kaithal’s Kalayat too, there were reports of a brawl and stone pelting between two groups.
A number of voters, including women, had queued up since morning in many districts and many elderly also cast their votes.
With panchayat polls taking place in the state after a gap of six years, there was a lot of enthusiasm among the voters to elect sarpanches and panches.
Panchkula recorded 86.6 per cent turnout, Bhiwani 78.9, Jhajjar 76.5, Jind 79.9, Kaithal 78, Mahendergarh 80, Nuh 81, Panipat 82.4 and Yamunanagar 83.7 per cent.
According to an official statement, Dhanpat Singh had on Tuesday said polling would be held on November 2 for electing 2,607 sarpanches and 25,968 panches in these nine districts.
The first phase polls for zila parishads and panchayat samitis in these districts was held on October 30.
Arrangements related to drinking water, electricity and wheelchairs for physically challenged voters have been taken care of at all polling booths, he said.
According to Singh, there are over 49 lakh voters in the nine districts and 6,019 polling booths had been set up.
There are 6,220 gram panchayats in the state, where 61,993 panches will be elected and all 6,220 sarpanches will be chosen directly by villagers.
While the results of the panch-sarpanch elections will be declared at the end of voting in each phase, results of zila parishads and panchayat samiti members will be declared on November 27 after all the three phases are completed.
In the second phase, voting for zilla parishad and panchayat samiti members will be held on November 9, while polling for sarpanches and panches will be held on November 12 in Ambala, Charkhi Dadri, Gurugram, Karnal, Kurukshetra, Rewari, Rohtak, Sirsa and Sonipat districts.
The third and final phase of polling in the remaining districts of Hisar, Palwal, Faridabad and Fatehabad to elect members of zila parishad and panchayat samitis will be held on November 22 and that of sarpanches and panches on November 25. PTI
