Polling was underway for 186 panchayat bodies in Goa today. (Representational)Panaji: Fifty five per cent of the voters exercised their franchise in the Goa panchayat polls till 2 pm on Wednesday, as per the State Election Commission.Polling was underway for 186 panchayat bodies in Goa since 8 am on Wednesday and will conclude at 5 pm.A total of 5,038 candidates are contesting the panchayat polls from 1,464 wards across the coastal state.There are 3,85,867 voters in North Goa and 4,11,153 in South Goa, as per official data.Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant was among the early voters. He cast his vote at a booth in Pale-Kothambi village panchayat.Union minister Shripad Naik, who hails from Goa, also exercised his franchise at a polling booth in the Old Goa village panchayat.Later speaking to reporters, Mr Naik said political parties should keep themselves away from panchayat politics.Voting in ward number 9 of Calangute panchayat had to be postponed as there was a mismatch between the name of a candidate and the poll symbol, an election official said, adding that polling would be held there on Thursday.A total of 64 candidates have already been elected unopposed from different village panchayats, of which 41 are from North Goa and 23 from South Goa, an official earlier said.North Goa district has 97 panchayats with 2,667 candidates in the fray, while 2,371 are contesting polls for 89 panchayats in South Goa, he said.The administration has already imposed Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code across the state, while liquor ban has also been enforced on Tuesday and Wednesday.(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
Source link
Strange India 