Polling Underway in Telangana for Second Phase of Panchayat Elections

HYDERABAD: Polling for the second phase of Gram Panchayat elections is underway across 193 mandals in Telangana on Sunday, with over 57.22 lakh voters set to elect new village Sarpanches and Ward Members under tight security arrangements.

The voting process, which began at 7:00 a.m., is scheduled to conclude at 1:00 p.m. today, with the counting of votes and declaration of results to commence shortly thereafter at 2:00 p.m.

Key Figures and Electoral Scope

The second phase encompasses elections for 3,911 Sarpanch posts and 29,917 Ward Member posts.

♦ A total of 57.22 lakh voters (29.26 lakh female and 27.96 lakh male) are registered to participate.

♦ The phase will decide the fate of 12,782 candidates for the Sarpanch seats and 71,071 candidates for the Ward Member seats.

Out of the 4,333 Sarpanch and 38,350 Ward Member posts notified by the State Election Commission (SEC), 415 Sarpanches and 8,307 Ward Members have already been elected unopposed. Polling is not being held in two Gram Panchayats and 18 Wards, and 108 Ward Member posts received no nominations.

The SEC has deployed 4,593 returning officers and 30,661 employees, along with 2,489 micro-observers, to ensure the smooth conduct of the polls, utilizing 40,626 ballot papers. Webcasting facilities have been arranged at 3,769 sensitive polling stations. Elected Ward Members will meet later to choose the Upa (Deputy) Sarpanches.

Congress Claims Big Lead in First Phase

The ongoing polls follow the first phase, which was successfully held on December 11, recording a robust 84.28 per cent turnout among the 56.19 lakh registered voters.

The ruling Congress party has claimed a significant victory in the first phase results, with 2,864 Congress-backed candidates winning Sarpanch positions. Party-supported candidates secured 67.63 per cent of the total 4,235 Sarpanch seats.

BRS-backed candidates won 1,143 seats (26.99 per cent).

BJP-supported candidates won 185 seats (4.37 per cent).

Independents and others accounted for 43 seats (1.02 per cent).

The first phase elected a total of 3,834 Sarpanches, 27,346 Ward Members, and 3,347 Upa Sarpanches.

Reservation Issues Delay Other Local Body Polls

The Gram Panchayat elections are being held in three phases (December 11, 14, and 17) for a total of 12,728 Sarpanch posts and 1,12,242 Ward Member posts, with approximately 1.66 crore rural voters eligible to cast their votes.

The state Cabinet fast-tracked the Gram Panchayat elections to ensure the utilization of a crucial ₹3,000 crore grant from the Centre, which is set to lapse by March 31, 2026.

Elections for Mandal Parishad Territorial Constituencies (MPTCs), Zilla Parishad Territorial Constituencies (ZPTCs), and municipal corporations remain on hold. These polls are awaiting the final orders of the High Court regarding the 42 per cent reservation for Backward Classes (BCs). The High Court had earlier struck down a government order providing the 42% reservation, but permitted the conduct of elections with a 50% cap on total reservation for all sections.