Over 55 lakh voters to exercise franchise in gram panchayat elections

Amaravati, Feb 16 (PTI): Over 55.75 lakh voters will getto exercise their franchise to elect 2,639 sarpanches and19,553 village ward members in the third phase of elections tothe gram panchayats in Andhra Pradesh on Wednesday.

Panchayat Raj and Rural Development Principal SecretaryGopal Krishna Dwivedi said in a release on the eve of theelection that 26,851 polling stations have been set up under160 revenue mandals in 13 districts.

Of the total, 1,977 polling stations were in the Maoist-affected areas, while 3,127 have been classified ashypersensitive and 4,118 sensitive polling stations.

While polling would be held from 6.30 am to 3.30 pm inall polling stations, the process has been curtailed by twohours in Maoist-affected areas.

Of the 3,221 village sarpanch posts in the third phase,579 had gone unopposed.

Similarly, 11,753 of 31,516 ward members were alsoelected unanimously, the Principal Secretary said.

In one gram panchayat each in Visakhapatnam, Prakasam andWest Godavari districts, no nominations were filed for thesarpanch posts and, as such, polling would be held for 2,639posts only.

In all 7,757 candidates were in the fray for thesesarpanch posts.

Also, no nominations were filed for 210 ward membersposts out of the total of 19,763.

As such, elections would be held only for 19,553 wards,Dwivedi said.

''All arrangements have been put in place for the thirdphase of election.

We have kept Personal Protective Equipment, sanitisers,masks, gloves and thermal scanners at all polling stations inline with the COVID-19 protocol,'' Dwivedi added.

Special arrangements have been made for coronavirus-afflicted voters, if any, to exercise their franchise duringthe last hour of polling.

Counting of votes would be taken up after 4 pm, followingthe voting.

The first and second phase of elections to grampanchayats were conducted on February 9 and 13 in, by andlarge, a peaceful manner.

Though the elections to panchayats were conducted on anapolitical basis, the ruling YSR Congress claimed to havebagged ''more than 82 per cent'' of village bodies, the lowesttier of the Panchayat Raj structure.

The final phase of polls will be held on February 21.