GUWAHATI, Dec 1 - At least 734 candidates contesting in various panchayat seats have been declared winners uncontested, State Election Commission sources said.
The respective Deputy Commissioners are in the process of issuing them the necessary certificates declaring them as members or presidents of the PRI bodies, the sources said.
Of them, 380 are from the BJP, 193 from the Congress and 28 from the AGP. AIUDF candidates got through uncontested in 10 seats, CPI(M) in 1, BPF in 5 and independents in 117 seats.
According to figures available with the State Election Commission, 78,571 candidates are contesting for the 26,808 PRI seats. Altogether 1,512 are contesting for the 420 Zila Parishad member seats, 7,004 contesting for 2,199 Anchalik Panchayat member seats, 7,667 candidates are in the fray for 2,199 Gaon Panchayat president seats and 62,388 candidates vying for the 21,990 gaon panchayat member seats.
The sources said that in around ten-fifteen seats, there has not been a single candidate.
�It was mainly because of the reservation. In some reserved seats, there are negligible number of families from the reserved category and hence there were no eligible candidate. We may have to refer the matter to the government after a discussion with the political parties. The seats may be de-reserved depending on the ground reality,� the sources said.
Meanwhile, election officials said the run-up to the polls have been smooth and peaceful so far. �There have been no major hiccups. In a few districts, there has been a shortage of vehicles, but we have taken it up with the Transport Commissioner and making the necessary arrangements,� the sources said.
Twenty seven election districts will go into polls in the first phase on December 5. Elections to the remaining seats will be held on December 9. Counting is slated for December 12.
