Shimla, May 27 -- Barring minor skirmishes at the Haroli polling booth in Una and Sheetalpur in Solan districts, the first phase of panchayati raj elections concluded peacefully on Tuesday with a turnout of nearly 78%.

Polling was held in 1,293 gram panchayats across the state from 7am to 3pm amid a yellow alert for heatwave conditions in Una, Bilaspur, Hamirpur, Kangra, Solan and Sirmaur districts.

The turnout surpassed the 77% voting recorded during the 2021 panchayat elections held in 1,228 gram panchayats.

The counting of votes for the posts of pradhan, up-pradhan and ward members is currently underway and results are expected to start trickling in shortly.

The counting of votes for the block development council (BDC) and district...