38 elected unopposed to taluk panchayats

By Our Special Correspondent

BANGALORE, MAY 23. Thirty-eight candidates, most of them belonging to the Congress(I), have been elected unopposed in the polls to the taluk panchayats -- 3,255 seats -- scheduled for June 2 and 6, according to information reaching the State Election Commission (SEC) here.

In the case of the 890 zilla panchayat constituencies, two Congress(I) candidates have been elected unopposed. While one of them is from Gokak taluk (general category), the other is from Chikkodi taluk (BC-B-W).

According to the SEC, three candidates of the JD(U) and one of BSP have been elected unopposed to the taluk panchayats. Nomination papers have not been received in one of the constituencies in Ankola taluk. The maximum number of unopposed candidates is from Belgaum District (10, all Congress-I), followed by Gulbarga District (six Congress(I) and one BSP candidate).

Thus, elections will be held for 3,216 taluk panchayat constituencies and 888 zilla panchayat constituencies and the

SEC is fully prepared to conduct them. The State Election Commissioner, Mr. G. Muniyappa, has already held divisional-level meetings with officials to review the preparations in Mysore and Bangalore. He is scheduled to hold a review meeting in Belgaum tomorrow and in Gulbarga on May 26.

The Government has already released Rs. 18 crores out of the Rs. 22 crores sought by the SEC to meet the expenditure. The ballot papers are expected to be ready in the next three days. They will be printed at the four divisional headquarters. According to an estimate, about two tonnes of cream and pink coloured paper are required in each of the four revenue divisions for printing of ballot papers.

The cream-coloured ballot papers are to be used in the elections to the taluk panchayats while the pink-coloured ballot papers will be used for the zilla panchayat elections. There will be common ballot boxes for both the taluk and zilla panchayat elections to save time in the voting process. The ballot papers will be mixed before counting.

The indelible ink for marking is to be procured from Mysore Lacs and Paints. The mark this time will be placed on the last finger of the left hand of the voters as the ink mark put on the index finger of the left hand in the recent gram panchayat elections is yet to disappear.

About 1.27 crore voters are eligible to vote in 16 districts in the first phase of elections scheduled for June 2. The corresponding number covering 11 districts in the second phase of the election on June 6 is 1.06 crores.

There will be 34,598 polling stations. Of them 9,521 have been categorised as sensitive and 7,545 as hypersensitive ones. There are 9,858 candidates in the fray in the taluk panchayat elections and 3,071 in the zilla panchayat elections.

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