80% turnout in 2nd phase of Himachal panchayat polls

Shimla: The second phase of panchayat elections in Himachal Pradesh recorded an overall voter turnout of 80% across 1,276 gram panchayats on Thursday, according to the state election commission. Polling for the third phase in the remaining panchayats will be held on May 30.The first phase polling for 1,293 gram panchayats on May 26 recorded 78.9% voting. A total of 17.28 lakh voters - including 8.74 lakh men, 8.55 lakh women and 17 others - were eligible to cast their votes in the second phase on Thursday. Polling began at 7 am and concluded at 3 pm. Women voters outnumbered men in turnout, with 83.01% women exercising their franchise compared to 76.73% men. The outcome of the voting using colour-coded ballot papers for gram panchayat members, pradhan and up-pradhan was announced on Thursday evening, while that of 250 zila parishad wards and 1,684 panchayat samiti wards will be announced on May 31 of all three phases. The highest polling of 85.52% was recorded in Kullu district, followed by 85.16% in Sirmaur, 83.62% in Solan, 80.98% in Mandi, 80.68% in Shimla, 79.99% in Chamba, 79.73% in Una, 78.95% in Bilaspur, 76.39% in Kangra, 74.94% in Hamirpur, 76.29% in Kinnaur, and 69.38% in Lahaul and Spiti. The final turnout percentage could increase slightly after receiving complete ground reports. In nine out of a total of 12 districts of the state, the percentage of women voters was higher than that of male voters. The highest polling of around 96% was recorded in gram panchayat Dhela under Nalagarh development block of district Solan. Among the notable voters was 116-year-old Khadku Ram, who cast his vote in Dashmal gram panchayat under Sujanpur sub-division of Hamirpur district. As many as 288 voters of ward number one of Re gram panchayat in Hamirpur boycotted the election due to non-availability of drinking water facility despite repeated representations. Unopposed candidates A total of 10,854 candidates were elected unopposed in the ongoing panchayati raj institution elections in the state ahead of polling. These include 85 members of panchayat samitis, 176 gram panchayat pradhans, 286 up-pradhans and 10,307 ward members. Besides, 131 gram panchayats were also elected unanimously without any contest. As per the initial election commission notification, polling for a total of 3,754 gram panchayats in the state was to be conducted in three phases on May 26, May 28 and May 30. Elections were to be held for a total of 31,182 posts, including 21,654 gram panchayat members, 3,754 pradhans and 3,754 up-pradhans, 1,679 panchayat samiti members and 251 zila parishad members. Over 50.79 lakh voters, including more than 52,000 first-time voters, are eligible to cast their votes in the elections in all three phases.