High Voter Turnout in Uttarakhand Urban Local Body Polls

The urban local body polls in Uttarakhand witnessed over a 56% voter turnout by 4 pm. Rudraprayag and Haridwar districts saw the highest participation. Voting was peaceful despite some protests and complaints of missing names from voters' lists. The final results will be declared on January 25.

The urban local body elections in Uttarakhand saw a significant turnout, with more than 56% of voters casting their ballots by 4 pm Thursday, according to state election commission officials. Final numbers are expected shortly. Notably, Rudraprayag and Haridwar districts recorded the highest voter turnout at 62.72% and 60.85% respectively.

Polling, which started at 8 am and continued until 5 pm, remained largely peaceful. However, some protests erupted over missing names from voters' lists at certain booths, including a complaint from former chief minister Harish Rawat. Despite these issues, elections were held to decide the fate of 5,405 candidates for various posts across 100 urban local bodies.

There are 72 candidates running for mayoral posts, and a considerable number of candidates vying for municipal council and councillor positions. The state consists of 3,029,000 voters, with a robust security presence of 25,800 personnel to ensure orderly polling. Counting will commence at 8 am on January 25.

(With inputs from agencies.)