Rajkot: The Rajkot district administration has finalized preparations for the elections to the Rajkot Municipal Corporation (RMC), Gondal municipality, taluka panchayats and the district panchayat. Voting will be on April 26.Arrangements cover voter rolls, candidate details, deployment of polling staff and infrastructure to ensure a smooth and accessible election process. In the Rajkot Municipal Corporation, 9,85,952 voters are registered to elect representatives from 236 candidates contesting across 18 wards. The city will have 1,014 polling stations, staffed by 8,948 personnel. Of these, 506 polling stations have been marked ‘sensitive’ and eight ‘highly sensitive’. For district and taluka panchayats, 9,56,575 voters are eligible to vote. Elections will be held for 36 district panchayat seats, with 109 candidates in the fray, and 202 taluka panchayat seats, contested by 595 candidates. Four taluka panchayat seats — Gadhada, Daliya, Mevasa and Bhadajaliya — have been declared uncontested. Voting for these will be conducted at 1,186 polling booths, with 8,480 staff deployed. As many as 179 booths have been categorised as highly sensitive and 283 as sensitive. Across all local bodies in Rajkot district, there are 2,255 polling stations, of which 814 are sensitive and 195 are highly sensitive. Officials said 100% physical verification of all polling stations has been completed. Focus On Voter Comfort And Code Of Conduct District collector Om Prakash said special emphasis has been placed on voter comfort, keeping in mind the prevailing heat. All election officers have been instructed to ensure basic facilities at polling stations, including drinking water, shade, first aid kits, ramps and ORS kits. On the model code of conduct, the administration has received 12 complaints so far — nine from the Rajkot Municipal Corporation area, two from the taluka panchayats and one from the Gondal municipality. Action has been taken on all complaints and compliance reports have been submitted to the state election commission.
