First phase of AP Panchayat elections underway

Polling for 2,723 panchayatsin Andhra Pradesh was underway with people standing in queuesto cast their vote early on Tuesday.

Polling began at 6.30 AM and will go on till 3.30 PMwhile counting of votes will begin at 4 PM, official said.

Elections are also being held to elect 20,157 wardmembers.

The polls will be conducted in four phases till February21 with the first first one being held on Tuesday According to the Panchayat Raj department, elections wereto be held for 3,249 posts of panchayat sarpanchs, 525 havebeen unanimously elected, while no nomination was filed for avillage in Nellore district.

As many as 7,506 candidates are contesting for sarpanchposts and 43,601 are in the fray for ward members.

The elections are being held using ballot paper andwithout any political party symbols.

The department had said 29,732 polling stations were setup, out of which 3,458 have been identified as sensitive and3,594 hypersensitive.

All necessary precautions are in place as per COVID-19protocol amid tight security and PPE kits will be provided tovoters infected by the virus, it added.