3rd phase of panchayat elections concludes peacefully

Mahabubnagar: The third phase of Gram Panchayat elections concluded peacefully here on Wednesday, registering a voter turnout of 88.36 percent across five mandals.

District Collector and District Election Officer Viziyendira Boi said the polling process was completed smoothly under tight administrative and security arrangements. Polling began at 7 am, with voters turning out in large numbers despite the cold weather. By 9 am, polling stood at 25.38 per cent, rising to 60.63 percent by 11 am and 81.44 percent by 1 pm, before reaching a final turnout of 88.36 percent.

As part of inspection of polling, the district Collector visited several polling stations at various villages in Musapet, Addakal and Balanagar mandals, including those set up in Zilla Parishad and Mandal Parishad schools, and issued instructions to officials to ensure smooth voting.

In the third phase, out of 133 Sarpanch posts, 10 were declared unanimous at the nomination stage. As zero nominations were filed for one sarpanch post in Jadcherla mandal, elections were held for the remaining 122 Sarpanch posts. Similarly, out of 1,152 ward member posts, 231 were unanimous, while seven wards recorded zero nominations, resulting in elections being conducted for 914 ward posts. A total of 1,152 polling stations were set up across the district.

Following the completion of polling, counting of votes began at 2 pm at designated counting centres under strict security arrangements.

As per the State Election Commission’s directions, the counting process was videographed to ensure transparency. Collector Vijayendira Boi visited the counting centre at the Zilla Parishad High School in Gangapur village of Jadcherla mandal and instructed officials to conduct the counting process carefully, leaving no scope for errors.

General Election Observer Katyayani Devi, monitored polling and critical centres and reviewed election arrangements through periodic meetings.