With polling for the first phase of gram panchayat elections scheduled to take place on Tuesday, the district administrations of Dharwad, Gadag, Haveri, Uttara Kannada have made elaborate arrangements for the smooth conduct of the process.
Deputy Commissioners of Dharwad, Gadag, Haveri and Uttara Kannada Nitesh Patil, M. Sundaresh Babu, Sanjay Shettennavar and K. Harish Kumar, respectively, reviewed the election preparations, held meetings and visited mustering centres to take stock of the situation on Monday. In all these districts, the elections are being held in two phases with polling for the first phase taking place on Tuesday.
The respective Deputy Commissioners have issued prohibitory orders and also a ban on holding village santes (weekly bazaars) and fairs and on liquor sale in the wake of the elections in their districts.
In Dharwad district, polling for the first phase of elections is taking place on Tuesday in 65 gram panchayats of Dharwad, Alnavar and Kalaghatagi taluks. Polling will take place in 412 polling stations of these taluks from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., according to the Deputy Commissioner.
A total of 2,81,299 voters of these three taluks, including 1,44,646 male, 1,36,645 female and eight of the third gender, will exercise their franchise on Tuesday.
Speaking to presspersons after visiting a mustering centre at Basel Mission English Medium School in Dharwad, Mr. Nitesh Patil said that all necessary preparations had been made for free and fair elections. Steps had also been taken to provide postal ballots for those deployed on poll duty, he said.
In Gadag district, polling will take place for elections to 53 gram panchayats in the taluks of Gadag, Shirahatti and Laxmeshwar. For 743 posts, there are 2,216 candidates in the fray and a total of 2,55,241 voters will cast their votes on Tuesday.
Reviewing the preparations, Mr. Sundaresh Babu said that a total of 2,187 polling officials and personnel had been deputed on election duties. Adequate police personnel had been deployed to provide security to 381 polling stations, he said.
In Haveri district, polling will take place for gram panchayat seats in the taluks of Haveri, Ranebennur, Hirekerur and Rattihall.
In Uttara Kannada district, polling will take place in Karwar, Ankola, Kumta, Honnavar and Bhatkal taluks of Uttara Kannada district in the first phase of the gram panchayat elections.
