Polling under way for first phase polls to elect panches, sarpanches in Haryana

Chandigarh, November 2 Polling began on Wednesday to elect panches and sarpanches in nine Haryana districts in the first phase of the three-phase voting. The polling is going on in the districts of Bhiwani, Jhajjar, Jind, Kaithal, Mahendragarh, Nuh, Panchkula, Panipat and Yamunanagar, officials said. The polling began at 7am and will continue till 6pm. A number of voters had queued up since morning and 7.5 per cent voting was recorded in the first two hours of polling. According to an official statement, Haryana State Election Commissioner Dhanpat Singh had on Tuesday said that polling would be held on November 2 for electing 2,607 sarpanches and 25,968 panches in these nine districts. The first phase polls for zila parishads and panchayat samitis in these districts was held on October 30. Arrangements related to drinking water, electricity and wheelchairs for physically challenged voters have been taken care of at all polling booths, he said. According to Singh, there are over 49 lakh voters in the nine districts and 6,019 polling booths have been set up.

tribuneindia