81.83 per cent turnout in third phase of Rajasthan panchayat polls

Jaipur, Jan 30 (PTI) Rajasthan recorded a voter turnout of 81.83 per cent in the third phase of panchayat elections, an official said on Thursday.

The highest turnout was in Hanumangarh district where 91.31 per cent voters exercised their franchise, said State Election Commission Commissioner P S Mehra.

He said 17 sarpanch and 6,953 panch were elected unopposed.

There are 10,865 candidates in the fray for the post of sarpanch and 28,223 for panch in the third phase, which was held on Wednesday in 17,516 wards of 1,700 gram panchayats across 24 districts, Mehra said.

There were 60,23,485 eligible voters across 49 panchayat samitis, he added.

The voting percentage was 90.83 in Pratapgarh, followed by Chittorgarh (89.08), Churu (88.79), Barmer (88.25) and Alwar and Sri Ganganagar (87.39 each), Mehra said.

Among other places, 86.95 per cent people exercised their franchise in Jhalawar, Baran (86.87), Bharatpur (86.10), Bundi (85.79), Ajmer (85.07), Bilwara (85.05), Tonk (84.82), and Kota (83.90), he said.

Jaipur recorded 82.25 per cent voter turnout, Swai Madhopur (81.29), Jaipur (80.53), Udaipur (79.46) and Rajsamand (78.18), Mehra said.

In the first and the second phase, 81.51 per cent and 82.78 percent voters had cast their votes held on January 17 and 22 respectively. PTI AG AD