Ranchi, January 11 In Jharkhand, a total of 41 ward councillors have been elected unopposed in preparation for the upcoming civic elections, while three wards remain vacant due to the failure to file nominations, an election official said on Wednesday.
Civic elections for 48 urban local bodies (ULBs) will be held on February 23, with vote counting scheduled for February 27.
Elections are being held for the positions of 48 mayors or chairpersons and councillors in 1,087 wards across nine municipal corporations, 20 nagar parishads, and 19 nagar panchayats.
"A total of 41 councillors have been elected unopposed after receiving a single nomination from their respective wards," State Election Commission (SEC) secretary Radhe Shyam Prasad told PTI.
He said that three wards remained vacant because no nominations were received.
"No nominations were received from wards 5 and 11 in Domchanch Nagar Panchayat (Koderma) and ward 22 in Mango Municipal Corporation in Jamshedpur," Prasad said.
The nomination process began on January 29 and concluded on February 4, while the withdrawal of nominations ended on February 6.
A total of 562 candidates, including 235 women, are contesting for the positions of mayor or chairperson.
For ward councillors, 5,569 candidates, including 2,727 women, are contesting, he said.
Over 43.33 lakh voters, including 21.26 lakh women, are eligible to participate in the elections.
ULB elections in Jharkhand are not contested on the electoral symbols of political parties, but candidates are supported by the parties.
A total of 4,304 polling booths have been set up for the elections, of which 896 have been identified as hyper-sensitive and 2,445 as sensitive.
