Rajasthan gram panchayat polls to be held from 28 Sept to 10 Oct; check sec.rajasthan.gov.in for schedule

The Rajasthan election commission on Monday said that voting for 3,848 gram panchayats in the state will held in four phases from 28 September. The poll schedule has been announced by the EC on its official website - sec.rajasthan.gov.in. As per the schedule, the first phase of polling will be on 28 September, the second phase voting will be on 3 October, and the third and fourth phases will be held on 6 October and 10 October respectively. The notification stated that the elections were due in April but were postponed due to COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdown. According to a report by DNA, the elections will be held for the posts of Panch and Sarpanch. Panchayat Samiti and Zila Parishad polls will be held separately. The report said that conducting the polls amid the pandemic will be challenging. The commission also emphasised that the polling will be held only under the COVID-19 guidelines, including wearing of face masks and maintaining social distance. Reports also said that voting will be conducted from 7.30 am to 5.30 pm. The public notification for the election is expected to be released on 16 September. Counting of votes for the each phase of the Rajasthan gram panchayat election will be held on the same day of the polling. Candidates who want to contest in the first phase of election will have to file their nomination paper on 19 September. Nomination paper filing date for second phase is 23 September, third phase in 26 September and fourth phase on 30 September. Nomination papers of each phase will be scrutinised on the next date of the filing. Candidates can withdraw the name on the same date. After this polling symbols will be allotted. Panchayats that will go to polls in first phase will vote for Upsarpanch on 29 September, the second phase will vote on 4 October, third phase will vote on 7 October and fourth phase will vote on 11 October.