Hyderabad: Over 84 per cent of eligible voters exercised their franchise in the first phase of Gram Panchayat elections in Telangana on Thursday, the State Election Commission (SEC) said.
Claiming a decisive victory, the ruling party’s state unit president B Mahesh Kumar Goud said Congress-backed candidates won more than 90 per cent of the seats reflecting people’s trust in the Congress government.
Of the 53,57,277 eligible voters, 45,15,141 cast their votes (84.28 per cent), an official release said.
The polling, held from 7 AM to 1 PM in 3,834 Gram Panchayats, concluded peacefully and the counting of votes began at 2 PM.
Amid elaborate security arrangements made by police, the polling was held peacefully, Additional DGP (Law and Order) Mahesh M Bhagwat told PTI.
Extensive security arrangements have been made for polling. All polling stations have been classified as either critical or normal, with police deployment based on the sensitivity and vulnerability of each location.
A release said unanimous elections took place in 396 gram panchayats.
Expressing happiness over the “resounding” victory of Congress-supported candidates, Mahesh Kumar Goud said, “winning more than 90 per cent of the Sarpanch seats by Congress-backed candidates across the state stands as a testimony to the people’s trust in the Congress government.”
Under Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy’s leadership, the two years of governance focused on welfare and development and it is reflected in the Panchayat election results, he said.
“People have endorsed our slogan of welfare, social justice, and development. The sweeping victory of Congress candidates in the Sarpanch elections is proof of that,” Goud said.
On the other hand, state BJP president N Ramchander Rao said the party secured significant gains in the Gram Panchayat elections, signalling growing support for the party in rural areas.
He credited the welfare and development schemes implemented by the NDA government at the Centre, including free rice to poor, housing, Ujwala gas connections, PM-KISAN, streetlights, roads, and toilets for changing life in rural areas, he said in a statement.
Ramchander Rao urged BJP cadre to reach out to people in the remaining two phases of Gram Panchayat polls and highlight the Centre’s development initiatives.
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.
Following the recent bypoll to Jubilee Hills assembly constituency which the ruling Congress won, the Gram Panchayat elections are seen as a test of the popularity of the Congress, BRS and BJP though the polls are held on non-party basis.
Owing to legal hurdles surrounding the Congress government’s move to provide 42 per cent reservation to Backward Classes in local bodies, the Telangana government on November 17 decided to conduct elections only for gram panchayats, deferring polls for other rural local bodies, including Zilla Parishad Territorial Constituency (ZPTC) members.
