426 polling stations set up in Bilaspur district for phase 1 PRI elections

In the first phase of the Panchayati Raj Institutions elections in Bilaspur district, 169,324 voters across 62 gram panchayats will exercise their right to vote on Tuesday. This was stated by Deputy Commissioner Rahul Kumar at Bilaspur on Monday. Of these, 85,230 are male and 84,094 are female voters.

The DC said 428 polling stations have been established in the district for the first phase of the PRI elections. These included 254 general polling stations, 115 sensitive and 59 are highly sensitive polling stations. He said special security arrangements were made at all sensitive and highly sensitive polling stations to ensure that the voting process is conducted in a peaceful, fair and transparent manner.

The DC said it is the responsibility of every voter to adhere to the guidelines issued by the Election Commission during the voting process.

He added that on the polling day, voters must carry with them either the EPIC card (voter ID) issued by the Election Commission or any other valid identity proof, such as Aadhaar card, driving licence, passport or PAN card. The voters should verify their names and serial numbers in the voter list before reaching the polling station.

The voting hours were scheduled from 7 am to 3 pm. He added that the results of panchayat elections would be declared on the same day while counting of votes for Block Development Committees and Zila Parishad would be held on May 31.