Jaipur: Voting for the first phase of Rajasthan's panchayat elections began at 7 am on Thursday across 16 district councils (zila parishads) and 104 panchayat samitis. According to the State Election Commission, 85,07,304 voters will decide the fate of 6,926 candidates. Polling is being held for 293 wards of the district councils and 1,788 wards of the panchayat samitis.
Every voter will cast two ballots, one for the district council member and one for the panchayat samiti member, so each booth has been equipped with two EVMs. A total of 9,886 polling stations have been set up and voting will continue till 6 pm.
The first phase covers the district councils of Ajmer, Alwar, Barmer, Bhilwara, Bikaner, Dungarpur, Jaipur, Jhalawar, Jodhpur, Kota, Nagaur, Pali, Phalodi, Rajsamand, Sirohi and Udaipur. There are 1,693 candidates for district council member posts and 5,233 for panchayat samiti member posts.
The commission has asked officials to ensure drinking water, shade and seating at booths. In Bhilwara district, polling at booth 91 of Lasadiya gram panchayat started about an hour and a quarter late after a control unit failed and had to be replaced.
Both the BJP and the Congress are treating the rural vote as a test of their grassroots support. Counting for all phases of the district council and panchayat samiti polls will be taken up on November 20. Before that, sarpanch and ward panch elections will be held on October 24, and deputy sarpanch posts will be filled on October 25.