PIONEER EDGE NEWS SERVICE | Dehradun
The counting of the votes for the three tier Panchayati Raj bodies in the 12 districts of the State commenced at 8 am on Thursday.
At the time of filing this report, the State Election Commission had declared results of 60 out of total 358 seats of district Panchayat members. Similarly 1551 posts of member block Panchayat out of total 2974 seats and 5174 posts of village Panchayat Pradhans out of total 7499 seats were declared at the time of filing the report and the counting was in progress in remaining seats.
Large number of independent candidates and youngsters have registered victories in the Panchayat elections.
Abhishek Singh, the son of senior leader of Congress Pritam Singh registered victory from Barnard Basteel district Panchayat seat in Chakrata block of Dehradun. Sweta Bisht, the daughter in law of BJP MLA Diwan Singh Bisht emerged victorious in the block Panchayat seat. Congress supported candidates Shayam Singh Chauhan, Diwan Singh Tomar, Virendra Singh Rawat and Pravin Rawat won from Raegi, Aara, Mangroli and Bayala respectively.
Youngsters registered emphatic victories in the Panchayat elections. In Kui village of Paubo block of Pauri, 22 year old Shakshi was elected village Pradhan. She has done B,Tech from Dehradun and instead of heading to major cities for a job, she decided to serve her ancestral village.
In one of the most talked about district Panchayat seats of the Panchayat elections, Bhutsi in Tehri, Sita Devi registered victory by 112 votes. Interestingly her nomination paper was rejected by the returning officer following which she knocked on the door of the court. She was granted reprieve by the Supreme Court after which she was allowed to contest the election.
In Sarkot village of Gairsain in Chamoli district, 21 year old Priyanka Negi was elected village Pradhan.
The SEC has deployed 15,024 personnel for counting of votes. A total of 8,926 security personnel were deployed at the counting centres. The SEC claimed that the process of counting of votes was done under the strict vigil of observers, zonal magistrates and Police officers. The commision has imposed a ban on the victory processions after the declaration of results.
