<span style="color: #222222;">In Maharashtra, Polling for elections to over 14,234 Gram Panchayats in 34 of the total 36 districts is progressing smoothly. The polls, being held with COVID-19 protocols in place, will cover 34 districts barring Mumbai city and Mumbai suburban districts. There are 27,920 Gram Panchayats in the State. Polling began at 7.30 a.m. and will continue till 5.30 p.m. except in four tehsils in Gadchiroli and Gondia districts. In these four tehsils, the voting ended at 3 p.m.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">Maharashtra State Election Commissioner U.P.S. Madan said that there are 20,000-odd seats where members have already been elected unopposed.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">Electors in 14 villages of Thane district have boycotted the Gram Panchayat elections to press for their demand to be a part of the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">The SEC has allowed those suffering from Coronavirus infection or those who are in quarantine to cast their vote half-an-hour before the polling ends.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">All the Polling Centres and material/equipment were sanitised in view of the pandemic, the Commission said. The Gram Panchayats are considered the third tier of governance. Elections for them are not held on party lines. Candidates are allotted election symbols from a list of free symbols.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">The districts and the district-wise number of Gram Panchayats where polling is being held are — Thane (158), Palghar (3), Raigad (88), Ratnagiri (479), Sindhudurg (70), Nashik (620), Dhule (218), Jalgaon (783), Ahmednagar (767), Nandurbar (86), Pune (748), Solapur (658), Satara (879), Sangli (152), Kolhapur (433), Aurangabad (618), Beed (129), Nanded (1,015), Osmanabad (428), Parbhani (566), Jalna (475), Latur (408), Hingoli (495), Amravati (553), Akola (225), Yavatmal (980), Washim (152), Buldhana (527), Nagpur (130), Wardha (50), Chandrapur (62 9), Bhandara (148), Gondia (189) and Gadchiroli (362). Counting of votes will be held on 18th of January.</span><br />''