Over 13,000 candidates in the fray as Telangana Gram Panchayat polls kick off

Hyderabad: A total of 13,127 candidates remain in the electoral race for the 3,836 Gram Panchayats scheduled for the first phase of elections, which will be held on 11th December.

The State Election Commission (SEC) officially released the final list detailing the total number of candidates in the fray. According to the data, a significant 395 Sarpanchas were elected unanimously. Conversely, there were at least five villages where no nominations were filed. Consequently, the polls on 11th December will proceed for the remaining 3,836 Gram Panchayats.

Regarding the elections for ward offices, the SEC notified polls for 37,440 ward offices, with the total number of candidates in the fray standing at 67,893. Officials reported that 9,331 ward offices saw candidates elected unanimously, while 149 ward offices received no nominations. The election will, therefore, be conducted in 27,960 ward offices.

A notable number of candidates withdrew their candidature: 8,095 individuals withdrew from the Gram Panchayat contests, and 9,626 candidates withdrew their nominations for the ward offices.