UP panchayat poll: First phase of voting on October 9

The Uttar Pradesh panchayat polls will be held in two parts, with the first leg of voting to begin on October 9, state Election Commission said today.
State Election Commissioner (SEC) S K Agarwal told reporters here that the panchayat polls would be held in two parts.
The first part would elect Zila Panchayat and block development members whereas village heads and panchayat members would be elected in the second leg, he said.
The first part would be held in four phases - October 9, 13, 17 and 29 - and counting would be held on November 1.
The voting dates for the second leg of the election would be announced later on, he said.

Agarwal said 11.36 lakh electorates would elect 77,576 block development members and 3,112 Zila Panchayat members.

Of the total electorates, around 52 per cent are in the age group of 18 to 35 years, he said.
The SEC said 78,598 polling centers and 1,78,588 booths would be set up, categorised as general, sensitive and super sensitive categories.
"A fourth category 'super sensitive plus' has been created for the first time where videography of entire polling will be done so that it could be reviewed in case of any complaint," he said.
Agarwal said the number of such centers would not exceed more than 10 per cent of the total number of centers.

He said the state government had requested 423 companies of central paramilitary forces but it was not accepted.
Instead, a total 3 lakh security personnel would be deployed, including police, homeguards and village chowkidars for the elections, considered as semifinal to the 2017 assembly elections in the state.
130 companies of Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) would also be deployed for the smooth conduct of the polls, the officer added.