As many as 1.15 lakh candidates are in fray for 44,417 GP seats, whose electoral fortunes will be decided by an electorate of 1.25 crore. As many as 3,938 candidates have been elected unopposed. In all, elections for 2,833 Gram Panchayats will be held on Wednesday.
State Election Commission Secretary D K Ravindranath said preparations for the smooth conduct of the polls have been completed. As many as 81,000 polling officials have been deployed. Polling will be held between 7 am and 5 pm.
Districts that will go to polls during second phase include Mysore, Chikmagalur, Dakshina Kannada, Hassan, Kodagu, Mandya, Chamarajnagar, Belgaum, Bijapur, Haveri, Bagalkot, Uttara Kannada, Dharwad, Gadag and Udupi (Kundapur taluk).
Toll raises
The death toll in the hooch tragedy in Shidlaghatta taluk where people are said to have consumed hooch distributed during GP polls rose to five on Monday. Three of Chikkadibburahalli, Dibburahalli in the taluk had died on Sunday. Two more - Gangamma (55) and Narayanappa (65) breathed their last on Monday.
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