Patna, Feb. 21: The notification for panchayat elections in Bihar was issued today. Nominations for the first phase of polls — votes for which would be cast on April 20 — would start from February 24.

The polls would be conducted in 10 phases and the votes for the concluding phase would be cast on May 18. The Bihar State Election Commission (BSEC) conducts the panchayat polls.

There are 8,442 panchayats in Bihar. Over two lakh people’s representatives would be elected for the three-tier panchayati raj institutions through these elections. While there are 1,15,542 seats for members of gram panchayats, an equal number of seats belong to the panch. The number of seats for mukhiya and sarpanch are 8,442 each.

The number of seats in panchayat samitis to be filled through these elections is 11,534 and that in the district boards is 1,162. These numbers were higher in 2006 but the upgrade of some rural areas into urban ones over the past five years led to this reduction. In 2006, there were 8,463 panchayats in the state. The term of elected representatives, who won panchayat elections in 2006, is coming to an end this June.

“All necessary arrangements have been made for conducting free and fair polls and we have requested the state government to provide an additional 20,000 to 30,000 armed force personnel for conducting the elections,” state election commissioner J.K. Dutta said. As things stand now, the state government has committed to provide 45,000 home guards and 24,000 armed forces personnel for conducting the elections in which votes would be cast using ballot papers.

The BSEC has appointed observers for maintaining impartiality during the elections and also to work as expenditure observers to keep tabs on the bank accounts of contestants. “This has been done to ensure adherence to the expenditure limit fixed for contesting elections,” Dutta said.

While the expenditure limit for contesting district board election is Rs 50,000, in case of mukhiyas and sarpanch, the limit is Rs 25000. Those contesting elections for members of panchayat samiti can spend a maximum of Rs20,000 and in case of election-related expenditure for those contesting for panch and member of gram panchayat the limit is Rs 10,000.

With the notification, the model code of conduct would come into force. The government cannot transfer any block-level official, who would be engaged in poll-related works, without BSEC’s permission.