Preparations for the first phase of the three-tier panchayat elections on Wednesday have reached the final stage in all districts under the supervision of State Election Commission (SEC).
In this phase, polling will be held for 200 Zilla Parishad Member posts in 1,669 gram panchayats under 71 blocks with a total of 726 persons in fray. Over 67.51 lakh people will cast their votes at 22,379 booths, of which 3,357 have been identified as sensitive.
Total 225 platoons of police force comprising 37,245 cops will be deployed to maintain law and order.
As announced earlier, the panchayat polls will be held in the State in five phases on February 16, 18, 20, 22 and 24 with adherence to the Covid-19 protocols. Counting of votes and declaration of results will be done at block level on February 26, 27 and 28.
Over 2.79 crore voters will exercise their franchise in total 91,913 wards of 6,794 gram panchayats. Of the total 91,913 polling booths, 13,785 have been identified as sensitive.
Polling will be held from 7 am to 1 pm.
Voters, whose names are included in the ward-wise voters’ list, will be allowed to exercise their franchise.
At the time of polling, each voter is required to produce Electors Photo Identity Card (EPIC) or any of the 13 other documents approved by the Elections Commission of India (ECI).