Approx 72 per cent voting in Gujarat gram panchayats elections

Ahmedabad, Jun 22 (PTI) A voter turnout of around 72 per cent was recorded on Sunday in elections to 3,894 gram panchayats in Gujarat, with voters braving rains in several areas to cast votes in the first such exercise after the 27 per cent OBC quota was announced for local bodies in 2023. Polling remained peaceful barring a few incidents of violence in some districts, officials said.

Despite rains in some parts of the state, long queues were seen at many of the 10,479 polling stations set up for the exercise.

Voting was held between 7 am and 6 pm using ballot papers at 10,479 stations to elect 3,656 sarpanchs and 16,224 panchayat members. Votes will be counted on June 25.

"Estimated 72 per cent voting was recorded in the panchayats elections," the State Election Commission stated in a release on Sunday night.

According to SEC, 81 lakh voters were eligible to exercise their franchise.

Gram panchayat elections are usually not contested on party lines.

Candidates do not fight on party tickets, though they may be affiliated with political parties.

"Voting was largely peaceful barring a few incidents of violence," an SEC press release said.

Group clashes were reported in Dahod and Kutch districts while complaints regarding mistakes in voter rolls and missing ballot papers were received from some villages in other districts, briefly affecting the voting process.

In the Panchmahal district, the son of a candidate in the fray for the sarpanch's post was attacked by rival groups in Dhanitra village. The injured was taken to a hospital for treatment.

In a village in Banaskantha district, a 95-year-old woman arrived to exercise her franchise with her grandson amid heavy rains. Kamiben Suthar (103) also exercised her franchise in a village in Banaskantha district.

Kheda MLA Arjunsinh Chauhan and former Tharad MLA Gujlabsinh Rajput were among the early voters. Minister Mukesh Patel also exercised his franchise in a village in Surat district.

"Panchayat is an important pillar of democracy, so the right candidate should win the elections. I would appeal to people to record 100 per cent voting," Chauhan said.

The SEC had identified 3,939 polling stations as sensitive and 336 as highly sensitive.

Out of 8,326 gram panchayats, for which elections were declared on May 25, general and mid-term polls are being held for 3,541, and bypolls for 353 panchayats.

As many as 1,023 gram panchayats have been declared uncontested and vacant with no candidate filing nomination, the SEC said.

The SEC said gram panchayat polls in six talukas under the Kadi and Visavadar assembly seats were cancelled due to by-elections held there on Thursday.

This is the first time that elections are being held on a big scale in Gujarat after the state government in August 2023 announced a 27 per cent reservation for OBCs in panchayats, municipalities and civic corporations on recommendations of the Zaveri Commission's report.

Earlier, OBC reservation in local bodies was capped at 10 per cent.

After the Supreme Court ruled that the OBC reservation should be proportionate to their population, the state government, in July 2022, set up the KS Jhaveri Commission to gather and analyse data on the nature and implications of backwardness in local bodies.

The existing quota for Scheduled Castes (14 per cent) and Scheduled Tribes (7 per cent) in local bodies remained unchanged, and there has been no breach of the 50 per cent reservation ceiling. PTI KA PD ARU BNM NSK