Summary:
Bhopal, Jul 15 (PTI) As many as 873 candidates who were in the fray for district panchayat member polls in Madhya Pradesh were declared elected on Friday, a State Election Commission (SEC) official said.
A total of 875 district panchayat members across 52 districts were to be elected.
Among the 873 winners, a candidate was elected unopposed, while 872 others contested polls and emerged victorious, the official said.
Two results were yet to be announced, he said.
These elections were held on non-party basis.
Reacting to the poll outcome, Madhya Pradesh BJP general secretary Bhagwan Das Sabnani claimed that among the winners, 85 per cent were supporters of the saffron party and expressed his gratitude towards people for making them victorious However, state Congress spokesman JP Dhanopia said panchayat elections are not contested on party lines and therefore, the claim of the BJP about its victory in these polls was false.
He alleged the BJP committed irregularities in these elections and even officials were forced to change the results in favour of the ruling party in seats where the fight was very close.
The three-tier panchayat elections were held by using ballot papers, while for urban local body polls, electronic voting machines (EVM) were deployed.
Voting for these elections were held in three phases on June 25, July 1 and July 8.
Results of municipal corporation, municipal council and nagar parishad polls, held in two phases and contested on party lines, will be announced on July 17 (first phase) and July 20 (second phase), the official said.
The total number of district panchayat members (across 52 districts) was 875, while the count of janpad panchayat members (313 janpads), sarpanches and panches in the state stood at 6,771, 22,921 and 3,63,726, respectively.
In the three-tier panchayat polls, 80.31 per cent voters had exercised their right to franchise.
The term of 91 village panchayats in the state will end in November and the schedule of elections in these rural bodies will be issued separately later.
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