Rajasthan panchayat polls: Jaipur leads with 14.70% polling till 10 a.m. in first phase

Polling officials with polling materials. | Photo Credit: ANI Jaipur recorded the highest polling percentage at 14.70% among districts in Rajasthan till 10 a.m. on Thursday (October 22, 2026), while the overall turnout stood at 11.74% in the first phase of the Panchayati Raj elections.Polling began at 7 a.m. for 16 zila parishads and 104 panchayat samitis, with more than 85 lakh voters eligible to elect representatives to these rural local bodies in the first phase.Ajmer recorded a polling percentage of 13.63, followed by Alwar at 13.55% and Kota at 13.39% till 10 a.m.The elections are being held in three phases for 41 zila parishads and 457 panchayat samitis, besides polls for panches and sarpanches in 14,403 gram panchayats.A total of 6,976 candidates are in the fray for 2,081 seats in the first phase, comprising 293 zila parishad wards and 1,788 panchayat samiti wards.Of the candidates contesting, 1,693 are vying for the 293 zila parishad seats, while 5,283 are contesting for the 1,788 panchayat samiti seats.The first phase of polling is being held in Ajmer, Alwar, Barmer, Bhilwara, Bikaner, Dungarpur, Jaipur, Jhalawar, Jodhpur, Kota, Nagaur, Pali, Phalodi, Rajsamand, Sirohi, and Udaipur districts.Among the zila parishads, Bhilwara has the highest number of wards at 28, followed by Udaipur with 25, Barmer with 24 and Jaipur with 22.Jaipur also has the highest number of candidates contesting zila parishad seats at 154, followed by Bikaner with 138 and Alwar and Jodhpur with 133 each.In the panchayat samiti elections, Nagaur has the highest number of candidates at 470, followed by Barmer with 467 and Bhilwara with 466.Polling for zila parishad and panchayat samiti members in the second phase is scheduled for October 28, while the third phase will be held on November 3.Elections for panches and sarpanches in the third phase are scheduled for November 5, followed by indirect elections for up-sarpanches on November 6. Published - October 22, 2026 12:03 pm IST