Himachal Pradesh panchayat election results 2021: Final results awaited as counting continues

Shimla, Jan 23: Counting of votes for panchayat samitis and zilla parishads elections in Himachal Pradesh is underway. The state election commissioner has ordered repolling for panchayat samiti and zila parishad members in three wards in Theog block of Himachal Pradesh's Shimla district after it came to light that polling officials had written the names of voters on the ballot papers issued in these wards.

It can be seen that disclosing the identity of the voters during counting is prohibited under the Himachal Pradesh Panchayati Raj Act. The election commissioner has ordered a repoll in the three wards in Balag, Sainj and Jais gram panchayats.

The repolling began on Saturday from 7 am. Repolling will be held for panchayat samiti and zila parishad members and not for electing office-bearers of the panchayats as the results of the latter have already been declared. The counting will be done after voting on Saturday itself.

Meanwhile, the state election commission said the three-phase panchayat elections held this week saw a voter turnout of 80.40 per cent with 39.19 lakh people turning up to cast their votes.

Reports stated that women outnumbered men in voting as the turnout was 82.10 per cent among women against 78.70 per cent among men. A total of 260 coronavirus patients and persons under isolation also participated in the voting by following standard operating procedures.

As many as 3,586 out of 3,615 panchayats in the state went to polls, with 69,408 candidates contesting for the posts of panchayat ward members, village heads and deputy heads.

For the 81 panchayat samitis in the state, 6,725 people contested across 1,644 wards and for the 12 zila parishads, 1,125 candidates contested in 239 wards.

In most of the panchayats, counting has been done and the results declared, while the process was underway for panchayat samitis and zila parishads on Friday. The entire election process is scheduled to get completed by Saturday, according to election officials.