BENGALURU: The second phase of polls to 2,709 Gram Panchayats in the state will be held on Sunday. In all, 109 taluks are facing the polls with over 1.05 lakh contestants filing nominations for 39,378 seats.
The State Election Commission is all geared up to conduct elections, with all Covid-19 guidelines in place.
The elections in the second phase were supposed to be held for 43,291 seats and a total of 1,47,337 candidates had filed nominations. For 216 seats, no nominations were filed. While 1,39,546 papers were valid, 34,115 candidates withdrew their nominations and 3,697 members were elected unanimously.
With this, the elections will be held for 39,378 seats in 2,709 Gram Panchayats with 1,05,431 candidates in fray. As many as 1,40,65,775 (male - 71,00,113, female - 69,65,074 and others - 588) voters are ready to exercise their franchise. The Election Commission has identified 20,728 polling stations and enrolled 1,24,368 staffers for the election duty.
The police have made elaborate security arrangements for peaceful conduct of the polls. As many as 80,000 police personnel of various ranks have been deputed on election bandobust duty. Besides, 9,083 Home Guards and 5,246 police constables under training too will be deployed.
Also, 1,540 mobile teams have been kept ready for sector patrolling for which 918 additional vehicles have been provided. Other than this, 97 KSRP platoons along with DAR police too will maintain vigil.
In the first phase of the polls held on December 22, 43,238 seats in 3,019 panchayats from 117 taluks were up for grabs. The first phase had seen a big voter turnout of over 82 per cent, despite the Covid scare.
Setting the stage
In order to ensure that the second phase of the GP polls go smoothly, as many as 80,000 police personnel of various ranks have been deputed on election bandobust duty