The first phase of voting process in the three-tier panchayat elections being held for 49 development blocks of 12 districts of the state has been completed peacefully except for sporadic incidents. A total of 68 percent voting took place in the first phase. Of these, 63 percent men and 73 percent women cast their votes. With this, the fate of 17,829 candidates for 6049 posts has been sealed in the ballot boxes. However, at some booths, villagers boycotted the elections due to local problems.
The first phase of voting was held on Thursday in the panchayat elections being held in the remaining 12 districts of the state except Haridwar. In this, voters voted for a total of 6049 posts of Gram Panchayat member, Gram Pradhan, Kshetra Panchayat member and District Panchayat member. Voting was very slow in the first two hours of voting which started at 8 am. During this time, a total of 11.72 percent votes were cast. After this, voting picked up pace. 27 percent voting took place till 12 noon, 41.87 percent voting took place till 2 pm. 55 percent voting took place till 4 pm. After the voting which continued till late night, 68 percent of the total 26 lakh voters cast their vote to elect the village government. After the voting was over, the polling parties started returning to the district headquarters. The process of arrival of these parties continued till late night. Apart from Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, Cabinet Ministers Satpal Maharaj, Dhan Singh Rawat, Rekha Arya, MLAs Bharat Singh Chaudhary and Asha Nautiyal also voted in the Panchayat elections.
The road to Panchayat elections in the state was not easy. The tenure of the Panchayats ended in November. After this, administrators were posted in it for six months. After the tenure of the administrators ended, a situation of constitutional crisis arose. The matter also reached the court. When the election date was fixed, the court had to intervene again due to the cancellation of the voter list and then the nominations of the candidates. Now the voting for its first phase is over.
The second phase of voting will be held on July 28. In this, voting will be held for 5033 posts in 40 development blocks.
