Pics: Abhijith N Kolpe/Harshini Brahmavar/Justin D'Silva

Daijiworld Media Network – Mangaluru/Udupi (ANK/HB)

Mangaluru/Udupi, Dec 21: With less than 24 hours to go before the polling for the first phase of gram panchayat elections, preparations are in full swing in the district to ensure everything goes smoothly. On Monday December 21, polling officials and personnel deputed on poll duty reported at the mustering and de-mustering centers in Dakshina Kannada (DK) and Udupi.

Mustering and de-mustering was done at Mahatma Gandhi Centenary High School, Bondel in Mangaluru while the same was conducted at St Cecily's Institutions Brahmagiri in Udupi.

Mangaluru

Udupi

In Dashina Kannada, the elections will be held for 220 gram panchayats in 1,527 polling stations. There are 10,39,217 voters in the district for the upcoming elections out of which 5,12,908 are male, 5,26,288 female and 21 are voters in other category. In the first phase, elections will be held for Mangaluru, Moodbidri and Bantwal gram panchayats.

As many as 220 election officers and 233 assistant elections officers have been appointed for the elections. There are 2,626 ballot boxes to be used in the elections.

The first phase of gram panchayat elections on December 22 will be held at 67 gram panchayats in the district which include 16 in Udupi taluk, 27 in Brahmavar, 15 in Byndoor and nine in Hebri.

There are 161 polling booths in Udupi including 124 normal, 28 sensitive and nine hypersensitive booths. There are 62 polling booths in Hebri. There are 128 polling booths in Byndoor including 104 normal, 14 sensitive and 10 hypersensitive booths. There are 205 polling booths in Brahmavar, out of which 158 are normal and 47 are sensitive. The total number of polling booths in the district during the first phase of the elections are 556, out of which 448 are normal, 89 are sensitive and 19 are hypersensitive.

Sixteen election officers and 20 assistant election officers are appointed in Udupi for the first phase of the elections, 27 election officers and 27 assistant election officers in Brahmavar, 16 election officers and 17 assistant election officers in Byndoor and nine election officers and nine assistant election officers are appointed in Hebri. The total number of election officers are 68, assistant election officers are 73 and nodal officers are four.

There are 53,159 male voters and 57,281 female voters in Udupi, 66,684 male and 71,970 voters in Brahmavar, 42,910 male and 44,822 female voters in Byndoor and 19,654 male and 20,621 female voters in Hebri. As many as 3,77,107 voters including 1,82,407 male, 1,94,694 female and six other gender voters will cast their votes altogether.

There are 2,349 candidates including 1,241 general and 1,108 women in Udupi district.

There are 16 gram panchayats in Udupi taluk and total posts are 329. Out of them, 9 candidates are been selected unanimously and election will be conducted for 320 positions. There are 9 gram panchayats in Hebri taluk and total posts are 122. Out of them, 7 candidates are been selected unanimously and election will be conducted for 115 positions. There are 15 gram panchayats in Byndoor taluk and total posts are 259. Out of them, 8 candidates are been selected unanimously and election will be conducted for 251 positions. There are 27 gram panchayats in Brahmavar taluk and total posts are 412. Out of them, 39 candidates are been selected unanimously and election will be conducted for 361 positions.

Mustering process was also held at Government First Grade College Hebri, Government Pre-University College Byndoor and SMS Pre-University College Brahmavar here.

Speaking to Daijiworld, Pradeep Kurdekar, tahsildar of Udupi taluk, said, “Election authorities have made all required facilities for staffs. We have provided masks, sanitizers, face shields and thermal scanner to each team. A total of 1,11,936 voters will cast their vote on Tuesday tomorrow in Udupi taluk. Around 300 police are deployed for the smooth process of election.”

Dinesh Kumar is the election observer. Polling booths will be open from 7 am to 5 pm on Tuesday.

All staff left the mustering center after lunch in the afternoon with ballot paper and box to their respective polling booths.

Deputy commissioner G Jagadeesh examined the mustering center. All required security arrangements have been made at the center.