Polls for 3,857 GPs in Vidarbha today, results on Jan 18

Nagpur: Elections for 3,857 gram panchayats in Vidarbha will take place on January 15. The elections are taking place all over the state. Counting will be held on January 18.
Gram panchayat elections are not contested on party symbols, but leaders of all parties try to get their supporters elected. These elections are, therefore, a test of hold of rural MLAs and zilla parishad (ZP) members over their constituencies.
BJP will be looking to avenge its defeat in MLC elections held in December.A poor showing in GP elections will raise question mark on the leadership of leader of opposition Devendra Fadnavis and state party president Chandrakant Patil.
In Nagpur district, 130 panchayats were slated to go to polls. However, election was cancelled in Kadal village following complaints of massive errors in the voter list. Now, voting will take place for 129 GPs in the district. Total 2,798 candidates are in the fray for 1,181 seats in these 129 villages. The number of polling centres is 595.
In Gondia district, 3,251 candidates are in the fray for 1,382 seats in 189 villages. The figures for other districts are: Bhandara 2,745 candidates, 1,236 seats and 145 villages, Chandrapur 9,266 candidates, 4,191 seats and 604 villages, Gadchiroli 5,461 candidates, 2,276 seats and 361 villages, Wardha 1,301 candidates, 448 seats and 50 villages, Yavatmal 15,756 candidates, 6,715 seats and 925 villages, Amravati 10,001 candidates, 4,397 seats and 537 villages, Akola 4,411 candidates, 1,741 seats and 224 villages, Buldhana 9,664 candidates, 4,805 seats and 527 villages and Washim 3,192 candidates, 1,487 seats and 163 villages.
Due to restrictions imposed by the State Election Commission (SEC), campaigning for the elections, which began on January 5, had to be toned down. Candidates used social media on a large scale to make up. Large number of candidates opened Facebook accounts for campaigning. WhatsApp was the most popular messenger app for reaching out to voters.
This time, the SEC has decided to declare the reservation for posts of sarpanchs after the elections.
Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government has abrogated the previous BJP-Sena government’s decision of holding direct elections for the post of sarpanch. The sarpanch post will be reserved for SC, ST, OBC and women through draw of lots. This factor has reduced enthusiasm among the candidates as well as voters. However, this will be known for certain only after the SEC announces the final polling percentage on Friday night.