Phase 1 of Panchayat polls in Haryana on Oct 30, Nov 2

Chandigarh, Oct 07: The first phase of Panchayat polls will be held in ten of the 22 districts of Haryana on October 30 and November 2, State Election Commissioner Dhanpat Singh announced on Friday.

The ten districts to go to polls first are Bhiwani, Fatehabad, Jhajjar, Jind, Kaithal, Mahendergarh, Nuh, Panchkula, Panipat, and Yamunanagar. Polling will be conducted from 7 am to 6 pm.

"On October 30, polling will take place to elect members of zila parishad and panchayat samitis of these ten districts, while polls for sarpanches and panches of gram panchayats of the ten districts, will be held on November 2," Dhanpat Singh said in a press conference in Panchkula.

The nomination process for the first phase will start from October 14. "Counting of votes for panches and sarpanches of gram panchayats will take place on the same day, while counting for zila parishad and panchayat samiti members election, which are expected to be held on party lines and can have a bearing on the results of other districts, will take place after polling in the remaining districts," Singh said. Polling dates for the remaining districts will be given later, he said.

There are a total of 6,220 gram panchayats, 143 panchayat samitis, and 22 zila parishads. The total eligible voters for the panchayat polls are 1.20 crore with more than 56 lakh women, said Singh.

As many as 38,000 polling personnel, including Returning Officers, Additional ROs, supervisory staff, presiding officers, polling officers, and security staff will be put on duty for a smooth conduct of these elections.

"EVMs will be used for sarpanches, panchayat samiti, and zila parishad, though it will not have VVPAT facility. For panches, ballot papers will be used. In all, 17,628 ballot boxes will be arranged," he said.

The Model Code of Conduct comes into force with immediate effect from Friday, with respect to Panchayati Raj Institutions where poll is to be held between October 30 and November 2.