Hyderabad: Chairperson polls deferred in 11 Telangana municipalities due to various local conditions, officials said on Monday.
The municipalities where special meetings could not be conducted were Yellandu, Sultanabad, Ibrahimpatnam, Kagaznagar, Khyatanpally, Khanapur, Zaheerabad, Indresham, Dornakal, Jangaon, and Thorrur.
According to officials, the State Election Commission did not cite specific reasons for the postponement. However, authorities indicated that there was still scope to convene the special meetings on Tuesday.
Earlier, the SEC had issued a circular scheduling special meetings at 12:30 PM for the election of Chairpersons and Vice Chairpersons across 116 municipalities and seven municipal corporations in Telangana. Nevertheless, the Chairperson polls deferred decision affected 11 municipalities.
Reasons behind Chairperson polls deferred decision
An SEC representative stated that multiple factors could have led to the Chairperson polls deferred status. These included lack of quorum, law and order concerns, and administrative issues.
Officials clarified that local authorities were responsible for organising the meetings within the stipulated timeframe. Therefore, they could determine the appropriate timing, subject to procedural norms.
The representative added that if local officials failed to convene the special meeting on Tuesday, they would have to seek authorisation from the State Election Commission. Only after such approval could the meeting be rescheduled to a later date.
Although the majority of municipalities proceeded as planned, the Chairperson polls deferred outcome in 11 areas delayed the constitution of elected leadership in those civic bodies.
Authorities maintained that the situation remained fluid. Further clarity was expected after local officials reviewed ground conditions and communicated with the SEC.
The postponement applied only to the specified municipalities. In other urban local bodies, the election process moved forward as per schedule.