Himachal voters brave cold for panchayat polls

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HimVani

Shimla (Dec 28): Voters in Himachal Pradesh braved the cold today to cast their ballot in the first phase of the panchayat elections that began amid tight security.

Polling, which began at 7 am, is taking place in 11 districts across Himachal Pradesh. “The polling for 1,091 panchayats in the state began peacefully. There has been no report of any delay in starting the poll process,” said Sharab Negi, secretary, state election commission. He said elections were not taking place in Lahaul and Pangi sub-divisions in Lahaul and Spiti and Chamba districts. Police and home guard personnel have been deployed at all polling stations to maintain law and order, Negi said.

The counting of votes started soon after the polling process ended at 3 pm. “The results for the posts of ‘pradhan’ or president and ‘up-pradhan’ or vice-president and ‘panches’ or ward members would be declared late (Tuesday) evening,” Negi said. However, counting for the members of panchayat samitis and zila parishads (district executives) would be held on January 4.

The polling for the remaining Panchayat Raj Institutions (PRIs) would be held on December 30 and January 1. Himachal Pradesh is set to empower women at the grassroots level by electing only women to around 13,000 seats in the PRIs. State Election Commission chief Dev Swarup said: “Elections will be held for around 27,000 seats and 50 per cent reservation means almost half of the seats would be occupied by women candidates only.”

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