Lucknow: Polling for the first phase of three-tier Panchayat polls in 18 districts to elect Rural government will be held on Wednesday. The polling will begin at 7 am and end at 6 pm.
The districts which are going to polls in the firts phase on Wednesday included Saharanpur, Ghaziabad, Rampur, Bareilly, Hathras, Agra, Kanpur City, Jhansi, Mahoba, Prayagraj, Rae Bareli, Hardoi, Ayodhya, Shravasti, Santkabirnagar, Gorakhpur, Jaunpur and Bhadohi.
The State Election Commission has made elaborate security arrangements for peaceful covid-safe polling. Each polling booth has been sanitized and directed to follow commission’s Covid-19 guidelines.
Special arrangements have been made for coronavirus positive patients to cast their votes. They will be allowed to vote during the last hour of polling with agents wearing PPE kits, masks, shields and gloves.
Extra security personnel have been deployed at sensitive booths and all returning and nodal officers have been directed to ensure peaceful polling on Wednesday. All liquor shops have been closed in these districts from 6 pm Tuesday till the end of the polling on Wednesday.
For the second phase, about 62 Gram Pradhans have been declared elected after withdrawal of papers on Tuesday. No one had filed nominations against them. Three Zila Panchayat members, 560 Kshetra Panchayat members and 69560 gram panchayat members have been declared elected by the commission.
The nomination for the third phase began from Tuesday. April 18 will be the last date for withdrawal of nominations while papers will be checked on April 16 and 17.
