Hyderabad: The first phase of the Gram Panchayat elections ended peacefully with voters in the villages turning out in large numbers to exercise their franchise on Thursday. By evening, most of the results were out and according to reports, candidates supported by the ruling Congress won a majority of the Sarpanch posts.

Congress-supported candidates bagged more than 2,000 Sarpanch posts followed by BRS-supported candidates with nearly 1,000 and BJP-backed candidates over 200 seats. According to the State Election Commission (SEC), as many as 45,15,141 have utilised their franchise, accounting for 84.28 per cent of the total voters. The voting, which started at 7 am, picked up pace only after 10 am. The polling percentage during the first two hours till 9 am in the villages was just 19.38 per cent.

However, the polling percentage picked up at 10 am and at 11 am, more than half of the voters exercised their franchise. The polling percentage at 11 am was 52 per cent. The polling which ended at 1 pm registered 84.28 per cent. The polling was held for 4,236 Sarpanch posts in the first phase of the Gram Panchayat elections. The total voters in this first phase were over 56.19 lakh and as per the SEC, 45,15,141 voters have utilised their voting right.