Almost 79 Percent Voter Turnout Recorded in Goa Panchayat Polls

Polling was underway for 186 Panchayat bodies in Goa on Wednesday, 10 August, with more than 5,000 candidates in the fray, an official said.

(Photo: PTI)

As much as 78.70 percent voter turnout was recorded in elections to 186 village panchayats in Goa on Wednesday, an official said.

A total of 5,038 candidates were in the fray in 1,464 wards. The elections were not fought on party symbols.

A total of 6,26,496 voters exercised their franchise, said the senior official of the state election commission.

North Goa district recorded 81.45 percent polling while South Goa district recorded 76.13 percent polling.

Sattari taluka in North Goa recorded the highest 89.30 percent voting.

Navelim Village Records Highest Percent Voting

Navelim village panchayat in Bicholim taluka recorded highest 93.33 percent voting while Sarzora village panchayat in South Goa recorded lowest 60 percent voting.

The election in one of the wards in the Calangute panchayat in North Goa was postponed to Thursday after a candidate complained about a mismatch between his name and the symbol allotted to him, the poll official said.

Election will be held there from 8 am till 5 pm on Thursday.

No untoward incident was reported during polling, the official said.

Chief Minister Pramod Sawant was among the early voters. He cast his vote in Pale-Kothambi village.

Union minister Shripad Naik voted in the Old Goa village panchayat.

Political parties should stay away from panchayat politics, Naik told reporters.

As many as 64 candidates have already been elected unopposed -- 41 in North Goa and 23 in South Goa.

North Goa district has 97 panchayats with 2,667 candidates in the fray, while 2,371 candidates contested for 89 panchayats in South Goa.