Gram panchayat poll nominations begin in NTR, Krishna districts
Tammina Purnima submitting her nomination for Jakkampudi sarpanch post to Returning Officer at Kothiru Tadepalli gram panchayat near Vijayawada on Sunday
VIJAYAWADA: The nomination process for the first phase of gram panchayat elections began in NTR and Krishna districts on Sunday following the issuance of notifications at the respective gram panchayat offices. Polling will be held on November 26 for 209 sarpanch and 2,160 ward member posts across the two districts.
In NTR district, elections will be held for 73 sarpanch and 856 ward member posts, while Krishna district will witness polling for 136 sarpanch and 1,304 ward member posts.
On the first day of nominations, Bommasani Jayanth Sai, son of former sarpanch Bommasani Subba Rao and a TDP candidate representing the NDA alliance, filed his nomination papers for the Gollapudi sarpanch post before the Returning Officer. Gollapudi is one of the largest gram panchayats in the erstwhile Krishna district in terms of electorate. Earlier, he took out a rally through the village along with his supporters.
Similarly, Jana Sena Party (JSP) candidate Timmana Purnima filed her nomination papers before the Returning Officer at the Kothuru Tadepalli gram panchayat office for the Jakkampudi sarpanch post. Before filing her nomination, she took out a rally from Shabad to Kothuru Tadepalli along with TDP Jakkampudi mandal president Meduri Narendra, senior leaders Gandham Subba Rao, Garnipudi Madhava Rao, JSP leader Timmana Hima Venka Prasad, TDP BC cell senior leader Bathula Sambasiva Rao, Vemula Madhusudana Rao and others.
Several other candidates also filed nominations for sarpanch and ward member posts in various mandals across the two districts.
The nomination process will continue until November 17. Scrutiny of nominations will be held on November 18, while appeals can be filed on November 19 and disposed of on November 20. Candidates can withdraw their nominations on November 21.
In NTR district, polling will be held in 16 gram panchayats in Vijayawada Rural mandal, 10 in Ibrahimpatnam, 22 in G Konduru, 13 in Mylavaram and 12 in Reddigudem.
In Krishna district, the first phase covers 136 gram panchayats, including 27 each in Bapulapadu and Unguturu mandals, 21 in Gannavaram, 22 in Gudlavalleru, 23 in Nandivada and 16 in Gudivada.