Panchayat election campaign begins in Telangana villages on Thursday. Elections for 4,236 sarpanch seats and 37,440 ward seats will be held in the first phase in 189 mandals.
Election notifications will be issued by the district collectors on Thursday. Nominations begin immediately and continue till November 29. Scrutiny of nominations will take place on November 30. Petitions will be received on December 1. Decisions will be taken on December 2. The third day is the last day for withdrawal of nominations. The final list of candidates will be announced on the same day. Elections will be held on December 11, and the results will be declared on the same day. Sub-sarpanch elections will also be taken up in this phase.
The State Election Commission has geared up the election machinery. State Election Commissioner Ranikumudi held a video conference with district collectors, police commissioners, SPs, and senior officers on Wednesday. Discussion focused on law and order monitoring, polling staff appointment, training, and other election preparations.
Although panchayat elections are officially non-party, political parties are actively involved. Parties selected candidates for the post of sarpanch and sub-sarpanch. They allowed local leaders to select candidates for ward member positions.
On Wednesday, candidates who were getting ready to contest visited the tehsildar offices. Each office witnessed the arrival of 50 to 100 people. Those contesting reserved seats have to submit caste certificates. Many aspirants do not possess the documents. Only those who have passed out recently possess them. Others are applying for new certificates. Though rules allow 30 days for issuing a certificate, candidates are requesting immediate issue due to the nomination deadline.
