- First phase panchayat elections see 81,020 candidates in fray
- Nalgonda leads candidate numbers as arrangements completed
Hyderabad: The first phase of panchayat elections has reached a key stage as nominations, withdrawals and campaigning have ended. Polling will take place on Thursday. According to the details provided, a total of 81,020 candidates are contesting for the sarpanch and ward member posts notified for this phase. Officials stated that 13,127 candidates are in the fray for sarpanch posts and about 67,893 candidates are contesting for ward member posts.
Meanwhile, the State Election Commission released district-wise data on contestants for sarpanch and ward seats. The highest number of candidates is from Nalgonda district, while the lowest number is from Mulugu district. Although sarpanch elections are not held with political party symbols, local political support continues to influence contests across villages. Officials said that all arrangements for the first phase have been completed.
In this phase, 4,236 gram panchayats were notified, but no nominations were filed in five of them. Sarpanch candidates were unanimously elected in 395 places. Therefore, elections will be held for the remaining 3,836 sarpanch seats. A total of 13,127 candidates will test their luck in these contests. For the 37,440 notified ward seats, nominations were not filed in 149 places. A record 9,331 wards saw unanimous elections. Polling will be conducted for the remaining 27,960 ward seats.
Nalgonda district recorded the highest contesting numbers for sarpanch posts. The district has 988 candidates in the fray for 318 panchayats. During this phase, 8,095 sarpanch candidates withdrew their nominations. Similarly, 9,626 candidates withdrew from ward member contests. Nalgonda also saw the highest withdrawals, with 959 sarpanch candidates and 1,630 ward candidates pulling out of the race.
