Counting of votes polled in the recently concluded Gram Panchayat elections is underway amid tight security at designated places across Karnataka. Candidates supported by BJP are leading in 5,255 panchayat seats, while Congress is leading on 3,090 seats. JD(S), leads in 1,565 gram panchayats at 2 pm. The counting of votes for 5,728 Gram Panchayats in Karnataka that went for polls in two phases began at 8 am on Wednesday.
According to the Karnataka State Election Commission officials, counting is taking place at all Taluk headquarters in the state by adhering to strict Covid-19 protocol of mandatory wearing of face mask, social distancing and hand hygiene. The polling were conducted in two phases on December 22 and 27 where 78.58 per cent voting was registered. As many as 2,22,814 candidates contested the election whereas 8,074 candidates were elected unopposed. In all, elections took place in 5,728 villages in 226 Talukas of the state for 72,616 seats. As many as 2,22,814 candidates contested the election whereas 8,074 candidates were elected unopposed. There were 2.94 lakh voters in the Panchayat elections. The first phase election turn out 82% held on December 22. In the second phase elections which took place on Sunday, voting took place across 2,709 village panchayats in 109 Talukas of Karnataka which saw a turnout of 80.71%,
Though these polls don’t take place on party symbols, all political parties have put in efforts to ensure that the candidate supported by them wins, so as to have their hold on grassroot level politics, which may prove advantageous for them in taluk or zilla panchayat and even assembly polls whenever it happens.
