Ongoing Grama panchayat polls in AP

The first phase of polling in 2,723 Grama panchayats in 12 districts of the state began this morning. 7,506 people are vying for the Sarpanch positions. 88,523 officers and staff were recruited for polling. Of the 3,249 gram panchayats notified, 525 were unanimous. The suspended elections in Guntur and Chittoor districts were allowed by the state election commissioner on Monday evening.

29,732 polling stations are being set up for elections. Of these, 3,458 were identified as problematic and another 3,594 as highly problematic zones. A total of 1,130 Returning Officers, another 3,249 Stage-2 Officers, 1,432 Assistant Returning Officers, 33,533 Presiding Officers, and 44,392 staff will be deployed during the polling. 519 zonal officers, 1,221 supervisors, and 3,047 micro-observers were appointed to monitor the polling pattern.

Webcasting arrangements have been made at the Command Control Center and Polling Stations at the Panchayati Raj Commissioner’s Office in Thadepalli for direct observation of the counting of votes.