Voting begins for final phase of Gram Panchayat elections in Telangana

Hyderabad: Polling for the third and final phase of gram panchayat elections in Telangana began on Wednesday.

The polling began at 7 am and would conclude at 1 pm. The counting begins at 2 pm.

A total of 12,652 Sarpanch candidates are in the fray, while 75,725 are contesting for ward member posts, officials said.

As many as 53 lakh voters are eligible to exercise their franchise in the election at 36,483 polling stations.

A total of 3,752 gram panchayats and 28,410 wards are going for polls.

In the final phase, 4,159 gram panchayats and 36,452 wards were notified for elections and out of these as many as 394 sarpanches and 7,908 ward members were elected unanimously.

Security arrangements are in place to ensure peaceful polling.

The first phase of elections on December 11 witnessed a turnout of 84.28 per cent, while the second phase of elections on December 14 recorded a turnout of 85.86 per cent.

The Telangana State Election Commission on November 25 announced a three-phase schedule for gram panchayat elections to be held on December 11, 14 and 17.