PANJIM: As campaigning for the zilla panchayat polls ended Monday, 7,80,717 voters will vote to elect their candidates on March 18, for the first time on party lines. There are 192 candidates, 93 in north and 99 in south, vying for the 50 ZP seats. Women voters (3,94,200) will outnumber male voters (3, 86,317) at the Zilla panchayat elections.
Voting which will begin from 8 am, will be conducted through traditional paper ballots at 1209 State Election Commission designated polling stations (628 in north and 581 in south), compared to 1017 booths in 2010. Seven booths have been identified as sensitive in North and one in South Goa.
The BJP has fielded a total of 34 candidates – 23 in north and 11 in south Goa, MGP 9 – two in North and seven in South Goa, while independents including (Goa Vikas Party – four seats) will contest 149 seats – 68 in North and 81 in South. Straight fights will be witnessed in 11 constituencies – 8 in north and 3 in south Goa.
“We wanted to hold elections on time. With this schedule we only overshoot by three days,” State Election Commissioner Dr M Modassir told media when asked about the dates. “Overall it has been satisfactory till this stage.”
A total of 221 policemen have been deployed at polling stations. 40 will be posted on mobile squads, 45 are guarding the strong room, 24 are part of the flying squads, 18 are with election observers and 14 are with the expenditure observers, Election Commission officials said, adding that 11 flying squads will monitor the law and order situation.
The District Magistrate, North Goa, in exercise of the power under section 144(1) of CrPC, 1973 has also ordered closure of all eating houses, cafes, cafeterias and other commercial establishments within a radius of 100 metres of each polling station in all the zilla panchayat constituencies within the jurisdiction of North Goa District on March 18 from 5 am to 8 pm.
Election commission will webcast voting from 4 locations in South while counting will be webcast from 11 locations also in south.
Box
Total no of constituencies 50
North south
25 25
Reserved 15 14 29
Women 6 4
ST 1 2
ST (women) 0 2
OBC 5 4
OBC (women) 3 2
General 10 11 21
