Panchayat polls: Counting for second phase underway

Ranchi: Counting of votes for the second phase of panchayat polls in Jharkhand, which began on Sunday, was currently underway amid tight security, an election official said. As the polling was conducted in ballot papers, it will take days to declare the final results, State Election Commission (SEC) Secretary Radhe Shyam Prasad stated.
The second round of four-phase panchayat polls was held on May 19.
Over 68 per cent of 38.82 lakh voters exercised their franchise at 872 panchayats, where a total of 21,872 candidates were in the fray for the posts of mukhiyas, zilla parishad members, panchayat members among others.
As many as 5,093 eligible candidates have already been declared elected unopposed in this phase.
Panchayat elections in Jharkhand are not held on party lines. Meanwhile, campaigning for the third phase of panchayat polls came to an end on Sunday evening. PTI