Chandigarh, December 30: The polling for panchayat polls Punjab to elect sarpanchs and panchs for 13,276 villages began on Sunday amid tight security arrangements. The voting will be held from 8 am to 4 pm on Sunday. The counting of votes will take place after the conclusion of polling, a state election official informed. According to reports, around 8,000 candidates are in the fray for the post of sarpanchs and panchs. In the polling today, 13,276 Sarpanches and 83,831 Panches will be elected by 1,27,87,395 registered voters, of which 66,88,245 are male, 60,66,245 are female and 97 belong to the third gender.

During the polls today, nearly 1.27 crore voters are believed to cast their votes. According to a report by PTI, all necessary arrangements have been made to hold smooth, transparent and peaceful polling in the state. For the polling today, the State Election Commission has set up 17,268 polling booths and 86,340 personnel are deputed on duty. Punjab Panchayat Elections 2018: Voting For 13,276 Seats To be Held On December 30.

In Punjab, around 4,363 sarpanchs and 46,754 panchs are already elected unopposed while as many as 13,276 sarpanchs and 83,831 panchs will be elected for 13,276 villages, the EC official added. Earlier this month, State Election Commissioner Jagpal Singh Sandhu had said that the expenditure limit for a candidate contesting for the post of Sarpanch was Rs 30,000 and for the post of Panch, the limit was Rs 20,000.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 30, 2018 08:50 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).