Avg 78% voter turnout recorded till 7 pm in 2nd phase of panchayat polls in Chhattisgarh

RAIPUR: The average voter turnout of 77.06% was recorded till 7 am on Thursday in the second phase of the three-tier Panchayat elections in 43 development blocks in Chhattisgarh with 46,83,736 voters, including 23,17,492 men, 23,66,157 women and 87 belonging to the third-gender category, eligible to exercise their franchise.
The first phase was held on Feb 17 with 81.38 % voter turnout.
The polling went smooth and peacefully. The election commission officials said that the voting was going on at 6.15 pm as many people were in queue and the final voter turnout will be released later.
Polling in Maoist-hit Bastar divisionwas held between 6.45 AM and 2 PM, and from 7 AM to 3 PM in other parts of the state.
The second phase of the polling was held to elect 26,988 ward panchs (panchayat members), 3,774 sarpanchs(gram panchayat head), 899 janpad panchayat members and 138 posts of Zila panchayat members.
About 9,738 polling stations were set up in 43 development blocks with elaborate security arrangements.
In the second phase, 65,716 candidates are in the fray for the posts of ward panch, 15,217 for sarpanch, 3,885 for Janpad Panchayat members and 699 for Zila Panchayat members, the official said.
The third and last phase of polling is scheduled on February 23.
Tabulation and election results for the posts of ward panch, sarpanch and janpad panchayat members will be announced at the block level on February 22 for the second phase and on February 25 for the third phase, the official said.
Elections are being conducted for the posts of 433 ZilaPanchayat members, 2,973 Janpad Panchayat members, 11,671 sarpanchs of village panchayats and 1,60,161 panchs in the three-tier Panchayat elections this time, poll officials said.
A total of 74,310 panchs, 448 sarpanchs, 41 JanpadPanchayat members and one Zila Panchayat member have been elected unopposed as no other candidates were there in the fray.