Voters belonging to 2,548 Village Panchayats of 30 blocks of 12 districts of Uttarakhand exercised their franchise to elect their representative in the third and last phase of panchayat elections on Tuesday. The polling was by and large peaceful in the state and the rural electorate enthusiastically participated in the poll process.
From early morning the voters turned out in large numbers and large queues of voters were seen outside the polling stations. The State Election Commissioner Subardhan said that by 3 pm, 56.38 per cent of voters turned out to vote in the third phase of elections on Tuesday. Dehradun reported 54.77 per cent; Pauri 58 per cent, Nainital 57 per cent and Almora 51.83 per cent voter turn out till 3 pm. The voting percent is expected to reach 70 per cent with reports of large queues of voters outside in the polling stations in the closing hours came from all parts of the State.
The Election Commission ordered repolling at the booth number 9 of Government Primary School Siroli of Pauri Block in Pauri district. In this booth a ballot paper with less number of symbols than the contestants was distributed to the voters. The repolling would be held in this booth on June 25.
In Dehradun district the voters of all age groups were seen lining up before the polling stations. In the polling booths of Raipur and Doiwala blocks women appeared to outnumber their male counterparts in exercising their franchise. Monika Upadhyaya of Nehrugram said that the elected representatives should work for all round development of village. Eighty five year old Mahendra Kumar Pandey of Shamshergarh village of Doiwala block showed grit and determination when holding clutches and hand of his grandson he came to vote. He told The Pioneer that he never misses a chance to vote and has participated in all the elections.
The voters of five blocks each of Almora and Pauri districts, three blocks each of Pithoragarh, Chamoli and Tehri districts, two blocks each of US Nagar, Nainital, Uttarkashi and Dehradun districts and one block each of Champawat, Bageshwar and Rudraprayag districts participated in third phase of elections on Tuesday. With the end of voting of all the three phases of Panchayat elections the fate of 34,395 Member Village Panchayats, 7,633 Village Pradhans, 3,054 Member Block Panchayat and 389 Member District Panchayats of 89 blocks of 12 districts of State (barring Haridwar) is now sealed in the ballot boxes. The counting of votes would take place in all the 89 blocks on June 27.