On the 13th of February, 167 constituencies of 18 divisions in 13 districts of Andhra Pradesh are conducting the second phase of the Grama Panchayat elections.
The polling for 182 gram panchayats started at 6:30 A.M., and would continue till 3:30 A.M.
Similar to the first phase of the panchayat elections, the second phase also witnessed a huge number of energetic voters.
All the voters queued up in lines today morning and are performing their franchise and casting votes. A total number of 4,27,673 voters are listed to vote in today’s election.
In the second phase elections, the State Election Commission (SEC) announced 539 sarpanch posts to be elected unanimously, which means there would be no competition for the elected 539 sarpanches in the second phase of the Grama Panchayat elections. For the remaining 3,328 sarpanch posts, there would be a tough fight between 7,519 candidates.
After unanimous election of 539 sarpanches, there would be 2,789 remaining sarpanch positions.
In addition, a total of 33,570 ward posts would be during the second phase, of which in 12,605 would be elected unanimously.
There would be 44,879 candidates in the fray for 20,965 ward positions.
The State Election Commission made all the arrangements for the safe and smooth conduct of the elections.
In several places, the Police Act 30 and Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) has been imposed.
Huge number of police personnel were deployed to ensure the peaceful violence free elections, especially in sensitive areas where polling would continue till 1:30 P.M.
Outsiders, Non locals and strangers are strictly warned not to be present at the areas or villages where polling is being conducted.
With today’s election, only two phases of the Grama Panchayat elections would be left.
While the third phase is scheduled on the 17th of February, the fourth and final phase is on the 21st of February.
Stay tuned for further updates.
