Hyderabad, Dec 12 ( LatestNewsX ) – In the first round of Gram Panchayat polling across Telangana, the ruling Congress party dominated, clinching more than half of the 4,236 Sarpanch seats available. Candidates championed by Congress secured 2,319 of those posts, a share that included several unopposed victories.
Although the contests were officially non‑party based, the outcome clearly favored Congress‑backed candidates in the bulk of the Gram Panchayats. The main opposition, Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), finished second with 1,159 Sarpanch seats, while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ranked third, taking 188 positions. The remaining 534 posts were filled by independents and other parties.
Of the 3,834 Sarpanch seats contested in 31 districts on Thursday, 396 were won without opposition. Except for Siddipet and Kumaram Bheem, Congress secured a majority in every district. A long list of districts—including Nalgonda, Khammam, Medak, Yadadri Bhuvanagiri, Warangal, Adilabad, Surypapet, Karimnagar, Kamareddy, Jangaon, Nagakurnool, Narayanpet, Nizamabad, Nirmal, Peddalli, Mandirial, Rajanna Sircilla, Vikarabad, Mulugu, Jayashankar Bhupalapally, and Jagtial—saw Congress winners. In contrast, BRS triumphs were limited to Siddipet and Kumaram Bheem. The opposition mounted formidable opposition in districts such as Mahabubabad, Mahabubnagar, Wanaparthy, Bhadradri Kothagudem, Sangareddy, Rangareddy, and Hanumakonda.
According to the State Election Commission (SEC), voter turnout reached 84.28 %. Polling commenced at 7 a.m. and concluded at 1 p.m. for the 3,834 Sarpanch seats and 27,628 Ward Member positions. The electoral fray featured 12,960 Sarpanch candidates and 65,455 vying for the Ward Member posts. More than 5.6 million registered voters cast ballots across 37,562 polling booths in 189 mandals.
Counting began at 2 p.m. and extended beyond midnight, with recounts conducted in Gram Panchayats where the margin narrowed to one or two votes. The poll notification had listed 4,326 Sarpanch seats and 37,440 Ward Member spots; five Sarpanch and 169 Ward Member nominations were not filed.
Unanimous victories were recorded for 396 Gram Panchayats and 9,633 Ward Members. Courts had previously suspended elections for one Gram Panchayat and ten Ward Member seats.
Out of the 5,619,430 electorate—comprising 2,741,070 men and 2,878,159 women—45,151,141 voters exercised their franchise in this phase. More than 100,000 polling staff were stationed, and 3,461 Gram Panchayats received live webcasting to monitor proceedings in real time. Over 50,000 police personnel were also deployed to maintain order.
Reacting to the results, state Congress leader Mahesh Kumar Goud remarked that the outcomes reflected the public’s trust in the current Congress government. The SEC had earlier announced that the Panchayat elections would take place in three phases on December 11, 14, and 17, covering 12,728 Sarpanch posts and 112,242 Ward Member posts. In total, 16.6 million rural voters were eligible to participate. The Telangana Cabinet decided last month to schedule only Gram Panchayat elections for December, citing a Rs 3,000 crore central grant that would expire on March 31, 2026. Elections for Mandal Parishad Territorial Constituencies (MPTCs), Zilla Parishad Territorial Constituencies (ZPTCs), and municipal corporations will wait for the High Court’s final ruling on a 42 % reservation for Backward Classes (BCs).
In October, the High Court invalidated a government order that had allowed a 42 % reservation for BCs in local bodies, but it permitted elections to proceed under a cap that limited total reservation to 50 % across all sections. The SEC has set a 17.08 % reservation for BCs in Gram Panchayats, reserving 2,176 of the 12,735 Gram Panchayats for these communities.
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