Dehradun, Jul 23 (PTI) The first phase of the three-tier panchayat polls in Uttarakhand will be held on Thursday. Polling will begin at 8 am and go on till 5 pm, state election officials here said.

The second phase of polling will be held on July 28, and the counting of votes will take place on July 31.

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A total of 26 lakh voters are likely to cast their votes on Thursday to decide the fate of 17,829 candidates for more than 6,000 posts of gram panchayats, kshetra panchayats and zila panchayats, the officials said.

Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami appealed to people to actively participate in the democratic process.

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(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)