Chorus for ‘unanimous election of sarpanch’ in GPs gets louder

Hyderabad: Despite the professedly ‘close watch’ by the State Election Commission (SEC), there seems to be chorus for “unanimous election” for the post of sarpanch in many of the gram panchayats, with some netas offering as much as Rs 50 lakh for the major gram panchayats in the State.

The local MLAs have started convincing the sarpanch aspirants to elect the panchayat head post unanimously. In some villages, the sarpanch aspirants are announcing plans to develop temples, community halls, and provide local civic amenities if they get elected unanimously. They are offering to pay a large amount of money for developmental works like temples and schools in the village. There is a huge demand for sarpanch posts in general panchayats adjoining corporations and municipalities. In some places, aspirants are coming forward to pay up to Rs. 50 lakh, it is learnt.

In Mutapuram village in Nelakondapally mandal of Khammam District, a candidate Kishta Rao announced that if he is unanimously elected as the sarpanch of the village, he will take up developmental works with an outlay of Rs 1 crore. In addition, he said, he will donate an acre of land to the Veeranna Swamy temple in the village. He said that he will also take up various welfare programs and personally provide scholarships to students. However, villagers say that Kishta Rao is a “non-local’ and that he is making such comments on social media “just for publicity”. Another individual, Yadava Reddy, from Nagulapalli, Peddemul mandal, Vikarabad district, has announced that if he is elected unanimously as sarpanch, he will allocate Rs 30 lakh for village development. Out of this, Rs 10 lakh will be given to Hanuman Temple, as well as a total of Rs 6 lakh for minority and Christian welfare, and Rs 2 lakh for the emergency fund.

The sarpanch post in Kondareddypally in Kodangal, the native village of Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy reportedly saw unanimous election. The gram panchayat was reserved for SCs. As many as 15 persons were ready to contest for the sarpanch post. However, all the elders of the village came together and decided to make the election unanimous. Though the election for the sarpanch post was stated to have been “unanimous”, the name of the incumbent sarpanch was not officially announced. The name will be announced in a sealed cover.

According to the official figures of the Panchayat Raj Department, sarpanches in as many as 1,935 gram panchayats across the state were elected unanimously in the 2019 elections. Of these, Adilabad district had the highest number with 162 villages. The following districts were Nizamabad, Kamareddy, Sangareddy, Nirmal, Nalgonda, and Warangal Rural districts.

As per the norms, the government encourages unanimous elections in the villages with monetary incentives.

If a village with a population of less than 5,000 elects its sarpanch unanimously, it will get Rs 10 lakh; and if a village has over 5,000 population, it will get Rs 15 lakh as reward. However, the Commission can suspend the election if there are malpractices during the election process.

Officially speaking, the State Election Commission is keeping a close eye on the “unanimous elections” in the villages. According to official sources, the district collectors have been asked to verify the unanimous elections taking place in the villages.