Panchayat polls to be held in 3 phases in January

The gram panchayat elections in the State would be held over three phases in January, the State Election Commission (SEC) has said.

The SEC decided that holding elections to 12,734 panchayats on a single day would not be possible as it also involves election of around 1.15 lakh ward members under the GPs. “The State government increased the number of gram panchayats from 8,363 to 12,743 and subsequently the wards also increased. Hence, the SEC decided to go for three-phase elections for panchayats,” an official involved in the election process told.

The term of gram panchayats (GPs) in the State came to an end on August 1, 2018.

Ballot papers will be used for



the elections as was done in 2013. Though there was a proposal to use Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), the SEC rejected it and instead decided to go in for ballot papers. The official said there would be no party symbol for local body elections and independent symbols will be allotted to the candidates for both sarpanch and ward member posts.

The SEC and State government are making all necessary arrangements to hold the panchayat elections. The SEC directed District Panchayat Officers (DPOs) and other officials of the district to complete the arrangements by the end of December since notification may be issued any time in the last week of December or first week of January.