PANJIM: Over 7.91 lakh voters are eligible to exercise their franchise to elect their next Zilla Panchayat (ZP) representative across 48 seats, on Saturday.
The long-delayed ZP polls, considered a semi-final in the run up to the State Assembly elections in 2022, will be a show of strength for all political parties including the ruling BJP and the opposition Congress. The results will indicate the support that the parties have.
If you enjoyed reading this article, you can help support our journalism by adding OHeraldo as a preferred source.
There are 200 candidates, including 78 independents, in the fray. Polling will take place from 8am to 5pm, with COVID-19 patients getting an opportunity to cast their vote during the last hour of polling. Almost 1100 COVID infected persons have been identified as voters, who will be provided with PPE kits at the time of voting.
As per information shared by the State Election Commission (SEC), of the 200 candidates in the fray, 41 are from the BJP, 37 are of the Congress, 20 of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), 17 have been fielded by the MGP, while six from the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) are also in the race.
Of the 48 seats, 25 are in North Goa, while 23 are in South Goa. There will be no election for the Sancoale ZP seat as the BJP candidate has been elected unopposed, and the election for Navelim constituency has been countermanded following the death of a candidate.
There are around 1,187 polling stations, while the number of voters is less than 8 lakh. “On an average 800 voters will visit each polling station,” State Election Commissioner Chokha Ram Garg said.
Wearing a mask, use of sanitisers, thermal scanning and a proper physical distancing would be maintained during the entire polling process, Garg said. Voters without face masks will not be allowed to cast a vote.
He said that the Election Commission of India (ECI) has laid down guidelines for elections to be conducted during the pandemic and these would be followed.
There are ten sensitive booths – six in North Goa and four in South. Counting of votes will take place on December 14.
The term of the ZPs had ended mid-March, however, in view of the COVID-19 lockdown, the elections that had already been announced were postponed.
The government has imposed a ban on the gathering of people within 200 metres of the polling stations and directed shops, bars, restaurants and other establishments within the vicinity of the booths to remain closed.
