Raipur, Feb 22 (PTI) Voting for the third and final phase of Panchayat elections will be held on Sunday in 50 development blocks in Chhattisgarh, an official said.

A police officer on Saturday said personnel for eight polling booths in Naxalite-affected areas of the Bastar region have been airlifted to their destinations.

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A senior poll official said 53,28,371 voters, including 26,37,306 men, 26,91,000 women and 65 belonging to the third-gender category, are eligible to exercise their franchise.

"All preparations have been made for polling to elect 30,990 ward panchs, 3,802 sarpanchs, 1,122 janpad panchayat members, and 145 posts of Zila panchayat members," said Commissioner of State Election Commission Ajay Singh.

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He said 11,430 polling stations have been set up in 50 development blocks amid elaborate security, while polling parties have started reaching their respective destinations.

Tabulation and election results will be announced on February 25 for the third phase, the official said.

The panchayat or local self-government elections in Chhattisgarh are held at three levels--Gram Panchayat (village), Janpad Panchayat (block), and Zila Panchayat (district).

Panchayat polls are not held on party lines..

In the third phase, 76,199 candidates are in the fray for the posts of ward panch, 17,191 for sarpanch, 4,659 for Janpad Panchayat members, and 839 for Zila Panchayat members, the official said.

Polling will be held in seven districts under the Bastar division from 6.45 AM to 2 PM in view of the Naxal threat, and from 7 AM to 3 PM elsewhere, he said.

According to police, in Naxal-affected areas of Bastar, additional security has been arranged at polling booths while patrolling has been intensified.

A helicopter is being used to drop polling personnel at six booths in Sukma district and two in Narayanpur district under the Bastar region. They will be picked up after polling, officials said, adding that ballot papers are being used for voting.

Votes will be counted in respective polling booths soon after polling, a poll official said.

On February 17, the first phase of polls was held to elect 27,210 ward panchs, 3,605 sarpanchs, 911 janpad panchayat members and 149 posts of Zila panchayat members, wherein 81.38 per cent voter turnout was recorded.

The second phase of voting was held on February 20 to elect 26,988 ward panchs, 3,774 sarpanchs, 899 janpad panchayat members and 138 posts of Zila panchayat members in which 81.22 voter turnout was recorded.

Tabulation and election results for the posts of ward panch, sarpanch and janpad panchayat members were announced for the first phase on February 19 and the second phase on Saturday.

Similarly, the tabulation and results of the first phase were declared on February 20 for Zila Panchayat members at the district headquarters. The results of the second phase of polling will be out on Sunday.

Elections are being be conducted for the posts of 433 Zila Panchayat members, 2973 Janpad Panchayat members, 11,671 Sarpanchs of village panchayats and 1,60,161 Panchs in Panchayat elections, poll officials said.

"All nomination papers for 68 Panch posts and one Sarpanch post were rejected. A total of 74,310 Panchs, 448 Sarpanchs, 41 Janpad Panchayat members and one Zilla Panchayat member have been elected unopposed as no other candidates were there in the fray.

"Elections are being held in three phases for the posts of 85,188 Panch, 11,181 Sarpanch, 2,932 Janpad Panchayat members and 432 Zilla Panchayat members," they said.

In the recently held urban body elections in Chhattisgarh, the result of which was announced on February 15, the BJP captured a majority of civic bodies and won mayors' posts in all ten municipal corporations.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)