Polling, that began at 7 am will continue till five in the evening. Elections is being held in 621 zilla parishads and 6,157 panchayat samitis, besides 31,827 gram panchayats.
The counting for the the single-phase polls will take place on May 17. The polls will be the last major elections in the state before the next year’s Lok Sabha polls.
The Supreme Court had on May 10 directed the State Election Commission to ensure “free and fair” panchayat elections in the state.