PANJIM: The stage is set for the panchayat polls, as after withdrawals, the State Election Commission (SEC) announced there were 5299 candidates in the fray for 1467 wards in 186 village panchayats across Goa.
SEC revealed that 55 candidates have been elected unopposed, of which 28 candidates were in North Goa while 27 in South Goa.
On the final day for withdrawals, 1045 nominations were withdrawn, of which 522 were from North Goa while 523 are from South Goa. In North Goa there are 2840 candidates in the fray while in South Goa there will be 2459.
The SEC will allot symbols to candidates on Tuesday and the 10-day campaign will commence the same day.
Bardez has the highest number of candidates, while lowest is in Canacona. The polls will be held on June 11, the counting is schedule to take place on June 13.
The filings of nominations which began on May 18 ended on May 25 with 7647 nominations had been received, but after scrutiny only 6399 nominations were found valid.
As per information, approximately 1700 ballot boxes would be used for polling, which will be done through ballot papers.
SEC has informed that Deputy Collector Gurudas Desai has been appointed as nodal officer for printing of ballot papers for the panchayat elections.
Though the elections are not being held along party lines, local MLAs have put up candidates and even panels in certain panchayats.
