The counting of ballots in the gram panchayats that went to the polls in two phases was completed on Thursday and the State Election Commission declared the results.
The counting commenced on Wednesday morning and the commission declared the results to 54,041 out of 91,339 seats by Wednesday night. The counting of votes polled for 36,781 seats continued till Thursday morning.
As many as 5,728 gram panchayats in 226 taluks went to the polls on December 22 and 27, after the High Court directed that the polls had to be conducted. With the elections keenly fought on the lowest rung in the panchayat raj system, more than 80% of 2.62 crore electors cast their vote in over 45,000 polling booths. Belagavi district (477) accounted for the highest number of gram panchayats that went to the polls, while Bengaluru Urban had the lowest (79).
As per data made available by the commission on Thursday, 610 seats still remain vacant, while 8,153 candidates were elected unopposed. Elections were conducted to 82,576 seats. At the end of the polling process, there were 90,729 elected representatives in 5,728 gram panchayats.
Belagavi district has reported the highest number of seats where candidates were elected unopposed (781), followed by Ballari (638). Gadag district recorded the lowest number (87) of candidates elected unopposed, followed by Dakshina Kannada (91).
After the elections, Chikkamagaluru district has the highest number of vacant seats (137), followed by Raichur (77). Koppal, Kalaburagi, Haveri, Dakshina Kannada, and Chickballapur districts have filled up all the available seats.
According to election commission officials, 162 gram panchayats did not go to the polls as their tenure had not ended, while 74 that had been partially or fully upgraded also did not see elections. Elections were not held in six gram panchayats on account of matters of litigation.
Though the GP polls were not fought on party symbols, political parties have claimed victory for candidates backed by them. The parties are considering this as a barometer to gauge the public sentiment that could be a precursor to the elections to the State Assembly in 2023.
