Vadodara (Gujarat):

Polling has started for civic polls for 88 seats in Gujarat’s Vadodara district along with 34 zila panchayat seats and 168 taluka panchayat seats. Voting began at 7 am and will continue till 6 pm.

This comes days after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) emerged victorious in the local body polls in six districts earlier this week, nearly wiping out the Congress.

Other districts in the state, including 81 municipalities, 31 district panchayats and 231 taluka panchayats, are also going to polls today.

According to District Collector Shalini Agarwal, several returning officers and assistant returning officers have been deployed for the same.

“9,61,830 voters have registered for the Zila and taluka panchayat polls and 94,250 have registered for Nagar Palika polls. 1,308 presiding officers and 2,708 polling officers have been deployed,” Agarwal said on Saturday.

With the polls taking place amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the deployed officers will ensure that government-prescribed COVID-19 guidelines are being adhered to. Health kits and gloves will be provided for the staff and voters respectively, the district collector informed.

“In order to maintain overall law and order, police, group mobile, police magistrate mobile, local police, home guards and SRPs will be deployed,” she added.