(MENAFN- IANS) Panaji, Nov 29 (IANS) The Goa State Election Commission (SEC) announced on Saturday that the Zilla Panchayat (ZP) elections will be held on December 20.

Nearly 8.7 lakh voters are expected to take part in the electoral process.

The polling will be held for 50 constituencies in North and South Goa, and counting is scheduled for December 22.

The announcement has brought the Model Code of Conduct into force across all ZP areas.

According to the commission, candidates may submit their nomination papers between December 1 and 9.

Scrutiny will be carried out on December 10.

The electoral roll for the election is based on the Assembly rolls updated on January 1, 2025.

The SEC has completed the reservation process.

Accordingly, in North Goa, nine seats have been set aside for women, seven for Other Backward Classes (OBCs), and one seat each for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs).

South Goa has reserved ten seats for women, six for OBCs, and five for STs.

A total of 1,284 polling stations will be set up, with 658 in North Goa and 626 in South Goa.

Voting will take place using ballot papers, the Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar said.

The expenditure cap for each candidate has been fixed at Rs 5 lakh.

A total of 8,68,637 voters are eligible to exercise their franchise in the election.

Women voters form a slight majority in the electorate.

There are 4,20,431 male voters and 4,48,201 female voters.

North Goa has 2,13,529 men and 2,25,948 women voters, while South Goa has 2,06,902 men and 2,22,252 women voters, the SEC said.

The Zilla Panchayat elections are considered an indicator of public mood ahead of the 2027 Assembly polls in the state.

In the 2022 Goa Assembly election, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had emerged as the largest party with 20 seats in the 40-member House.

The Congress won eleven seats, while the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) secured two.

Smaller parties and Independents took the remaining seats.

Although the BJP fell short of a simple majority, it moved quickly to gather support from the MGP and three Independents.

This allowed the BJP to form the government for a third term in the state, and Pramod Sawant was sworn in again as the Chief Minister.

-- IANS

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