JAIPUR: Voting began at 7 am on Thursday for the first phase of the Panchayati Raj elections in Rajasthan.
Sixteen zila parishads and 104 panchayat samitis are going to polls in the first phase. More than 85 lakh voters are eligible to elect the members of the zila parishads and panchayat samitis.
The elections are being held in three phases for a total of 41 zila parishads and 457 panchayat samitis, besides elections for panches and sarpanches in 14,403 gram panchayats.
A total of 6,976 candidates are in the fray for 2,081 seats in the first phase, comprising 293 zila parishad wards and 1,788 panchayat samiti wards.
A total of 85,07,306 voters are eligible to exercise their franchise in the first phase of polling.
The elections are being held in Ajmer, Alwar, Barmer, Bhilwara, Bikaner, Dungarpur, Jaipur, Jhalawar, Jodhpur, Kota, Nagaur, Pali, Phalodi, Rajsamand, Sirohi and Udaipur districts.
For the 293 zila parishad seats, 1,693 candidates are contesting, while 5,283 candidates are in the fray for the 1,788 panchayat samiti seats.
Among the zila parishads, Bhilwara has the highest number of wards at 28, followed by Udaipur with 25, Barmer with 24 and Jaipur with 22.
Jaipur also has the highest number of candidates for zila parishad seats at 154, followed by Bikaner with 138 and Alwar and Jodhpur with 133 each.
In the panchayat samiti elections, Nagaur has the highest number of candidates at 470, followed by Barmer with 467 and Bhilwara with 466.
Polling for zila parishad and panchayat samiti members in the second phase is scheduled for October 28, while the third phase will be held on November 3.
Elections for panches and sarpanches in the third phase are scheduled for November 5, followed by indirect elections for up-sarpanches on November 6.