Rajasthan Panchayat polls in 4 phases; nominations begin Oct 8

Jaipur (Rajasthan) [India], October 3 (ANI): The Panchayati Raj elections in Rajasthan will be held in four phases, with the nomination process for Panch, Sarpanch and Zila Parishad members beginning on October 8, Chief Election Commissioner Rajeshwar Singh announced during a press conference on Saturday.
In the first phase of the Panchayati Raj elections, voting will take place simultaneously in Jaisalmer and Phalodi.
With the announcement of the 2026 Panchayati Raj election dates, the Model Code of Conduct has come into force in Rajasthan. It will remain in force for the next two months until the election process concludes.
The last date for filing nominations is October 13, while nominations can be withdrawn until October 15.
Polling for Zila Parishad and Panchayat Samiti members will be held on October 23, October 29, November 4 and November 14.
The election of Pradhan will be held on November 25, followed by the election of Up-Pradhan on November 26. The election of Zila Pramukh will be held on November 27 and the election of Up-Zila Pramukh on November 28.
The election process will conclude with these events.
A total of 3.17 lakh personnel will conduct the elections across 45,384 polling stations.
The expenditure limit has been set at Rs 3 lakh for Zila Parishad members, Rs 1.50 lakh for Panchayat Samiti members and Rs 1 lakh for the post of Sarpanch.
There will be a complete ban on holding rallies during the nomination process and victory processions after the results are declared. Issuance of new work orders at the government level will also be prohibited. 
Earlier, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) secured the Deputy Mayor posts in Bikaner and Ajmer Municipal Corporations following the results being declared of the closely contested elections. BJP candidate Pankaj Gehlot won in Bikaner despite the Congress having a clear majority, while in Ajmer, Hemant Sankhla was declared the winner after a 40-40 tie was decided through a lottery.
In Bikaner, BJP candidate Pankaj Gehlot won the Deputy Mayor election with 40 votes, defeating Congress candidate Naseem Bano, who received 38 votes. One vote went to NOTA, and one vote was declared invalid. (ANI)