8,843 in fray for Raj panchayat polls

Jaipur: The fourth and final phase of Rajasthan’s Zila Parishad and Panchayat Samiti elections will be held across 25 districts on Saturday. A total of 8,843 candidates will contest 2,524 seats. Polling will take place in 382 Zila Parishad wards and 2,142 Panchayat Samiti wards.

A total of 1,322 candidates are in the fray for Zila Parishad seats and 7,521 for Panchayat Samiti seats, according to the State Election Commission. Among the prominent candidates are Parakram Singh, son of senior BJP leader Rajendra Rathore, and Singh’s wife Kanika Singh, both contesting in Churu district. Sri Ganganagar district has the highest number of Zila Parishad wards going to polls in the final phase. A total of 101 candidates are contesting from 30 wards in the district.

The district also has the highest number of Panchayat Samiti candidates: 553 candidates are contesting from 164 wards. More than 1.05 crore electors are eligible to vote in the final phase. The electorate includes 54.88 lakh men, 51.05 lakh women and 59 transgender voters. The State Election Commission has set up 11,905 polling stations across the 25 districts. Sri Ganganagar has the largest electorate of 8.67 lakh voters, followed by Banswara at 6.45 lakh, Churu at 6.40 lakh, and Didwana-Kuchaman at 6.03 lakh. In Jaipur, polling will take place in 13 Zila Parishad wards and 82 Panchayat Samiti wards. Thirty-two candidates will contest Zila Parishad seats and 241 from the Panchayat Samiti seats.

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The Hans India