Campaigning for May 19 panchayat elections came to an end today amid political violence that claimed two lives in the state.
The state election commission has said it is fully prepared for the polls and all necessary arrangements have been put in place.
Strict instructions have been issued to the authorities to make fool-proof security arrangements, a commission spokesperson said, adding the election day has been declared as a dry day in revenue jurisdictions of all villages where polling will be held.
He said as many as 1,321 candidates filed their nomination for elections to 331 zones of 22 Zila Parishads.
While 127 papers were rejected in scrutiny, 404 candidates withdrew their papers on the last day fixed for the withdrawal of nomination papers, he said.
Now, only 760 candidates remain in the fray as 30 candidates were elected unopposed, he added.
For the Pachayat Samiti elections, papers of 351 candidates out of the total 10,085 were found incomplete, while 3,719 candidates withdrew their nomination papers.
The commission said with 229 candidates getting elected unopposed, 5,786 candidates now remain in the fray for the election to 146 Panchayat Samitis.
Meanwhile, two persons were gunned down today in a village in Amritsar in an exchange of fire between two groups, pushing the toll in the run up to the polls to four.
Alleging complete lawlessness in the state, the Congress has demanded deployment of Central forces in the state for the elections.
