The 5th general Panchayat polls in six districts of the valley were held peacefully amid stringent security measures adopted by the Manipur government on Saturday with a high voter turnout.
Official sources expected the voter turnout could stand at 90 per cent. The Panchayat polls witnessed an unprecedented enthusiasm among voters with record turnout.
People stood in queues from early morning to cast their vote. The polling which began at 8 am ended at 4 pm.
The polling was by and large peaceful, barring a few stray incidents. Most of the polling officials have returned to respective offices of Deputy Commissioners.
If necessary, repolling will be held on October 9 and that all activities related to the polls will be closed by October 16, officials said.
Polling was held across 1,520 booths spread across Imphal West, Imphal East, Thoubal, Jiribam, Kakching and Bishnupur districts.
The polling was held to elect a total of 60 Zila Parishad Members, 161 Pradhans, and 1,513 Members. A total of 7,16,830 voters—3,48,139 males and 3,68,691 females— were eligible to exercise their franchise in the polls.
Altogether 178 candidates are in the fray for the Zila Parishad seats, 446 candidates for the Pradhan seats and 2556 candidates for the Gram Panchayat seats. Counting of vote will take place on October 11.
A total of 391 Pradhan and Gram Panchayat Members have already been declared elected uncontested.
The State Election Commission provided three different colour of ballot papers to voters in the polls.
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