<span style="color: #212529;">In Gujarat, voting is underway for elections to 8,690 village panchayats amid tight security arrangements. Voters queued up since 7 am to elect heads of various gram panchayats and ward members. The polling will continue till 6 pm. Counting of votes will be held on 21st of December.<br />''<br />''Over 8 crore 82 lakh voters are expected to cast their votes through ballot papers this time across the state. These elections include general, mid-term and by-polls.<br />''<br />''A total 27,200 candidates are in the fray for the elections of sarpanch and more than 1 lakh candidates for the wards.<br />''<br />''More than 50 thousand police personnel have been deployed in the rural areas of the state in view of the polling today.<br />''<br />''Out of around 10 thousand 8 hundred local bodies, nearly 1,165 gram panchayats have been declared as Samras Gram Panchayats, after the Sarpanch and the entire body of ward members were elected unopposed.</span><br />''<br />''<br />''<span style="color: #222222;">Under the scheme of Samras Gram, such villages get monitory incentives by the Government of Gujarat for developmental works.</span><br />