1,467 village panchayats in Gujarat declared 'samras'

As many as 1,467 village panchayats, out of the 10,318 going to polls on December 27 in Gujarat, have got their representatives who have been chosen on the basis of consensus, earning the tag of 'samras'.
Panchayat Minister Jayanti Kavadia declared these 1,467 village panchayats as 'samras' after taking into account data that came after the last date of filing of nomination forms on December 10 for the December 27 polls.
However, the number of samras village panchayats has come down from 2,147 in 2011 to 1,467 now.
The concept of samras envisages rural residents choosing their village heads through consensus rather than elections.

The State Government, under its samras scheme, has declared cash rewards for villages which avoid elections and instead select their representatives unanimously.
The scheme, which seeks to avoid enmity between different groups in villages at the time of elections, was introduced in 2006 by then Chief Minister Narendra Modi.

Village Panchayat elections are not fought on party symbols.
Kavadia said, "1,467 village panchayats have been declared samras in the State. Another 114 village panchayats could not became samras because of differences of opinion in just one ward each."
"There are 420 panchayats where all wards have become samras but there was no consensus on election of Sarpanch. In such villages, only elections for the post of Sarpanch will be held," he said.

The Gujarat State Election Commission (SEC) on November 28 announced that elections in 10,318 village Panchayats across Gujarat will be held on December 27. The result will be declared on December 29.