Polling begins for 2nd phase of Telangana panchayat elections

For the smooth conduct of the polls, 4,593 returning officers and 30,661 staff have been deployed on election duty.

Hyderabad: Polling for the second phase of gram panchayat elections in Telangana began on Sunday, December 14, across 193 mandals. Elections are being held for 3,911 gram panchayat sarpanch posts and 29,917 ward member posts.

A total of 12,782 candidates are in the fray for sarpanch positions, while 71,071 candidates are contesting for ward member posts. As many as 57,22,465 voters are eligible to exercise their franchise at 38,337 polling stations.

Voting will continue till 1 pm, following which counting of votes will begin at 2 pm and results will be announced thereafter. Subsequently, meetings with ward members will be held to elect the respective deputy sarpanch.

Total of 4333 sarpanch posts originally issued for elections

In the second phase, notification was originally issued for elections to 4,333 gram panchayat sarpanch posts and 38,350 ward member posts. Of these, 415 sarpanch positions and 8,307 ward member seats were filled unanimously. In another five villages and 108 wards, no nominations were filed. Elections were also withheld in two villages and 18 wards. Leaving aside these segments, polling is underway in the remaining panchayats.

For the smooth conduct of the polls, 4,593 returning officers and 30,661 staff have been deployed on election duty. In addition, 2,489 officials have been appointed as micro observers. A total of 40,626 ballot papers are being used for the elections.

To closely monitor the process and ensure transparency, webcasting has been arranged in 3,769 polling stations identified as sensitive or problematic.