Guwahati (Assam) [India], April 3 (HBTV): The Assam State Election Commission on Wednesday announced the schedule for the panchayat elections in the state, which will be conducted in two phases across 27 districts.

State Election Commissioner Alok Kumar informed ANI that the first phase of polling will take place on May 2 in 14 districts, while the second phase is set for May 7 in the remaining 13 districts. The counting of votes for both phases will be conducted on May 11.

More than 1.80 crore voters, including 90.71 lakh male voters, 89.65 lakh female voters, and 408 other voters, will exercise their franchise in 25,007 polling stations.

'There will be no political party-affiliated candidates at the gaon panchayat level. Political party-affiliated candidates will only be in anchalik panchayat and zilla parishad level,' Kumar said.

The nomination filing process will start on April 3 and continue until April 11 for both phases. Scrutiny of nomination papers will be held on April 12, while the last date for withdrawal of candidature is April 17. The elections will be held at the gaon panchayat, anchalik panchayat, and zilla parishad levels.

According to the State Election Commission, there are 21,920 gaon panchayat members, 2,192 gram panchayat presidents, 2,192 gram panchayat vice presidents, 2,192 anchalik panchayat members, 181 anchalik panchayat presidents, 181 anchalik panchayat vice presidents, and 397 zilla parishad members.

Alok Kumar further stated that apart from the deployment of an adequate number of security personnel, around 1.20 lakh polling personnel will be engaged in the election process.

As per the election guidelines, a candidate should not have more than two living children from a single or multiple partners at the time of filing nomination. However, this rule does not apply to candidates with more than two children born before March 19, 2018.

Candidates for gaon panchayat member positions must have passed the HSLC (Class 10) examination or an equivalent exam under any council or board recognised by the state or central government. However, candidates belonging to the Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST), Other Backward Classes (OBC), and More Other Backward Classes (MOBC) categories should have studied up to Class 10.

For zilla parishad and anchalik panchayat positions, candidates must have passed the HSSLC (Class 12) examination or an equivalent exam. However, for SC, ST, OBC, and MOBC candidates, the minimum qualification is an HSLC (Class 10) pass or an equivalent examination from a recognised board.

Candidates must be at least 21 years old and should have a functional sanitary toilet in their residence. (ANI)