More than 90,000 candidates had filed nominations for the week-long Panchayati Raj and urban local bodies elections in Himachal Pradesh beginning from tomorrow, a top election official said here on Monday.
These elections, held for 3195 panchayats, 75 block samithis and 12 zilla parishads and 48 urban local bodies, are crucial to both BJP and Congress as these polls are seen as a precursor to the 2012 Assembly elections in the State.
The highest-ever nominations of 90,471 candidates were received for these elections, State Election Commission chairman Dev Swarup said.
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The polling will be held in three phases on December 28th and 30th and January 1. Approximately 46.11 lakh voters, including 2,278,881 women, would exercise their franchise at about 19,000 polling booths, he said.
In 2008, the BJP-led State government increased reservation of seats for women in all rural and urban civic bodies from 33 per cent to 50 per cent.
It is for the first time that the elections to panchayati posts are being held under the new quota.
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“The elections will be held for around 27,000 seats and 50 per cent reservation means almost half of the seats would be occupied by women candidates only,” Mr. Swarup said.