Final phase of Panchayat elections held today in Telangana

The last phase of village panchayat elections is being conducted across Telangana today. With the campaigning period having ended on Monday, the villages are witnessing an atmosphere of heightened anticipation. The State Election Commission (SEC), which successfully conducted the first two phases, has completed all preparations for today’s polling.

In this final phase, elections are scheduled for 4,158 village panchayats across 182 mandals. Of these, 394 panchayat seats were uncontested. Additionally, nominations for 11 sarpanch seats were not filed, leaving 3,753 sarpanch positions up for election today, with a total of 12,640 candidates in the fray.

Similarly, elections are to be held for 36,434 ward member positions. Among these, 7,916 seats were uncontested, and nominations were not filed for another 112 seats. This leaves 28,406 ward seats contested by 75,283 candidates. The competition at the village level is intense, generating significant interest in the polling process.

A total of 5,306,401 voters are eligible to cast their votes today, including 2,618,061 men, 2,704,394 women, and 146 voters in other categories. The SEC has set up 36,483 polling stations across the state to ensure smooth voting.

Polling began at 7 a.m. and will continue until 1 p.m., with vote counting scheduled to start at 2 p.m. The results are expected to be announced by this evening.

To ensure peaceful voting, extensive security arrangements have been put in place. Police and other security forces have been deployed, with special vigilance in sensitive areas. The SEC has urged voters to actively participate in these elections, which are crucial for grassroots democracy in the state.