Telangana Gram Panchayat polls: Over 25,000 file nominations for first phase

Hyderabad, Nov 30 More than 25,000 candidates filed their nominations for the first phase of Gram Panchayat elections in Telangana, scheduled to be held on December 11.

According to the State Election Commission, a total of 25,654 nominations have been filed for 4,236 of Gram Panchayats in 31 districts.

On the last day of filing of nominations on Saturday, 17,940 candidates filed their papers.

For 37,440 wards, 82,276 nominations were filed.

The State Election Commission said on Sunday that 70,596 nominations were filed on the last day.

The officials took up the scrutiny of nominations. The list of validly nominated candidates is likely to be announced late on Sunday.

Appeals with regard to nominations can be filed on December 1, and the same will be disposed of the next day. The last date for withdrawal of candidatures is December.

The first phase of elections will be held on December 11. Polling will be held from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m., while counting of votes will be taken the same day from 2 p.m.

As per the notification issued by the Telangana State Election Commission on Tuesday, elections will be held on December 11, 14 and 17 for 12,728 posts of sarpanchs and 1,12,242 wards.

A total 1.66 crore votes in rural areas are eligible to cast their votes in these elections.

For the second phase, nominations will be accepted from November 30, while the last date for withdrawal of candidatures will be December 6. Nominations for the final phase of elections can be filed from December 3, while December 9 will be the last date for withdrawal of nominations.

The Telangana Cabinet on November 17 decided to conduct only Gram Panchayat elections in December as the Rs 3,000 crore grant, which should come from the Centre, will lapse by March 31, 2026.

As the term of the 15th Finance Commission is coming to an end on March 31, 2026, the Rs 3,000 crore grant that Gram Panchayats have to get from the Centre will lapse if the elections are not held before the deadline.

It was announced that the decision on conducting elections for Mandal Parishad Territorial Constituencies (MPTCs), Zilla Parishad Territorial Constituencies (ZPTCs) and municipal corporations will be taken after the High Court's final orders on 42 per cent reservation for BCs.

As per the High Court order, the local body elections have to be held with a 50 per cent cap on total reservation for all sections.

The SEC has provided 17.08 per cent reservation in Gram Panchayats for Backward Classes (BCs). Out of total 12,735 Gram Panchayats, 2,176 have been reserved for BCs.

Among 31 districts in which elections will be held, Siddipet has the highest BC reservation at 26.772. In Bhadradri Kothagudem district, no Gram Panchayat has been reserved for BCs.

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