Telangana panchayat elections: Polling begins for third and final phase

Hyderabad: Polling for the third and final phase of the Panchayat elections has begun in Telangana. A total of 53,06,395 voters, including 26,01,861 men, 27,04,394 women, and 140 others, will exercise their right to vote at 36,452 polling stations.

Polling will continue until 1 PM and counting of votes will begin at 2 PM, and the results will be announced thereafter. Following this, meetings will be held with the ward members to conduct the elections for the Deputy Sarpanch.

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How many candidates are in the fray?

For the third phase of elections, notifications were issued for a total of 4,159 gram panchayats across 182 mandals.  Nominations were not filed for 11 Sarpanch posts, and 394 posts were elected unanimously. The court has issued a stay on elections in two gram panchayats.

A total of 12,652 candidates are contesting for the remaining 3,752 Sarpanch posts. Notifications were issued for 36,452 ward elections, but nominations were not filed for 116 wards. 7,908 wards were elected unanimously. The court has issued a stay on elections in 18 wards. A total of 75,725 candidates are in the fray for the remaining 28,410 wards.

The first phase of elections on December 11 witnessed a turnout of 84.28 per cent, while the second phase of elections on December 14 recorded a turnout of 85.86 per cent.

Telugu origin student travels from London to vote: 

Lavan Kumar, a student pursuing higher education in London, exercised his right to vote in the third phase of the Panchayat elections being held in Telangana. He cast his vote in Abdullapurmet in Ranga Reddy district. He urged everyone to exercise their right to vote.