EC instructs collectors to ready polling staff data; tribal villages issue vote ultimatum

Hyderabad: The State Election Commission has directed all district collectors to prepare polling staff data for the upcoming local body elections. District administrations were instructed to compile data based on revenue divisions, mandals, panchayats, and ward counts.

The directive has triggered early preparations for the polls, with the election schedule expected to be released soon.

Meanwhile, in Kumram Bheem Asifabad district’s Bejjur mandal, residents of 12 remote tribal villages have issued a stark warning—they will boycott the elections unless the government constructs proper bitumen roads and bridges across local streams.

At a meeting held Tuesday in Somini village, local leaders and public representatives from the 12 villages resolved to bar entry of political candidates into their areas unless basic infrastructure demands are met.