First-phase Gram panchayat held peacefully

Tandur: The Gram Panchayat elections were held peacefully for the first phase in the division on Monday. The elections for sarpanches and ward members were conducted in 117 Panchayats in Yalal, Peddemul, Tandur and Basheerabad mandals. The voting started at 7.00 am and ended at 1.00 pm. 

Officials made elaborate arrangements for the smooth conduct of the polls. Security was beefed up in view of preventing unwanted incidents. District Collector Syed Umar Jaleel supervised the entire process. Superintendent of Police T Annapurna personally supervised the situation. She visited Karankot Polling Station and directed the police personnel about the security arrangements.

However, in an incident some two groups clashed with each other in Khasimpur Village in Basheerabad mandal. Police dispersed the mob. On the other hand, villages wore festive look with election-related activities. The vice-sarpanches were also elected and officials gave away certificates to the winners. These are the first Gram Panchayat elections after the separate State was formed in 2014.

Though the election was held without party symbols, candidates were supported by major political parties. Candidates supported by ruling the TRS Party and Congress fought the elections head on. The TDP and BJP did not field their candidates in the elections.
Woman elected by a vote In an incident that explains the significance of the value of vote, a woman was elected sarpanch by just one vote. Suvarna, the elected sarpanch of Atkur Village, overpowered her opponent by just a single vote. 

Out of 447 votes in the village, she was polled 243, and her opponent Ramulamma got 242 votes. The third contestant Padmamma was polled 51 votes. For the sake of accuracy, the counting was conducted for 10 times.