Enthusiasm was witnessed among rural voters in Solan district as 79.47 per cent voting was registered in 87 panchayats in the first phase of the elections to panchayati raj institutions on Tuesday. Women voters outnumbered males by 1.59 per cent. Women exhibited great enthusiasm as they registered 80.28 per cent turnout in this grassroots-level democratic exercise while 78.69 per cent males exercised their right to franchise. More women cast their vote in Kunihar, Nalagarh and Patta blocks than males.
Patta block comprising nine panchayats recorded the highest polling of 82.84 per cent among all six blocks of the district, followed by 10 panchayats of Kandaghat block (82.11 per cent), 26 panchayats of Nalagarh block (81.76 per cent) and 65 panchayats of Dharampur block (80.08 per cent). Solan block comprising 13 panchayats reported (78.96 per cent) polling while Kunihar block recorded the lowest voting of 75.78 per cent among all six blocks of Solan district.
The rural population displayed great passion registering 43.24 per cent voting in all 87 panchayats of Solan till 11 am. Elderly voters set an example by turning up at several polling booths assisted by their family members. At Dhar gram panchayat in Solan block, 90-year old Bansi Ram proudly displayed his inked finger after casting his vote while 96-year-old Shanti Devi of Dangra panchayat in Solan block was equally passionate about voting. Draupadi Kanwar (86) and Roopplal (95), both residents of Basantpur panchayat in Kunihar block, also cast their vote.
Deputy Commissioner, Solan, Manmohan Sharma said that no untoward incident was reported and polling was peaceful in all 87 panchayats of the district. Votes were polled for the posts of member, up-pradhan and pradhan of panchayats and members of block development committee and zila parishad.