Hyderabad: The first phase of Telangana Panchayat polls has drawn over 1.07 lakh nominations, according to the State Election Commission.
Candidates submitted 25,654 nominations for Sarpanch posts and 82,276 for Ward Member roles. The nomination process ran from Thursday to Saturday. On the final day, many hopefuls queued for hours to file their papers.
Polling in this phase will cover 4,236 gram panchayats and 37,440 wards in 189 mandals.
Suryapet district recorded the highest number of Sarpanch nominations, with 1,387 for 159 panchayats. Vikarabad followed with 1,383 nominations, while Mahabubabad saw 1,239. Rangareddy topped the Ward Member category with 4,540 nominations for 1,530 wards. Vikarabad came next with 4,379 nominations for 2,198 wards.
Candidates have until December 3 to withdraw their nominations. Officials expect a busy day, given the volume of entries.
SEC warns against forced unanimous elections
The State Election Commission has asked District Collectors to closely monitor unanimous Sarpanch elections. If officials detect coercion, the Commission will withhold results from those panchayats.
Some villages have already chosen Sarpanches by consensus. However, the Commission stressed that such decisions must be voluntary and transparent.