Panaji, Dec 12 (IANS): Goa recorded 39.06 per cent voting up to 2 p.m. for the ongoing zilla panchayat elections in the state on Saturday, with 39.62 per cent votes polled in the North Goa district and 38.45 per cent votes recorded in South Goa district, statistics released by the State Election Commission has revealed.

Polling for Zilla Panchayat forty eight constituencies in Goa is underway on Saturday, with 203 candidates in fray and nearly 7.91 lakh voters eligible to cast ballot.

This poll is the first major polling exercise in the state since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Bharatiya Janata Party has fielded 43 candidates, while the Congress has fielded 38 candidates, followed by the Aam Aadmi Party and the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party with 17 each. There are also 79 Independent candidates in the fray.

State Election Commissioner Chokha Ram Garg has urged voters to step out and participate in the elections, which were originally scheduled to be held on March 22.

But the polls were postponed after the Central government imposed a nationwide lockdown from March 25 to control the Covid-19 pandemic.

Goa has 50 Zilla Panchayat seats, but one unopposed candidate has already been declared victorious, while a candidate contesting from the Navelim seat in South Goa district has died, forcing the State Election Commission to countermand polling in the constituency.