Andhra Pradesh: No elections in 274 panchayats due to delay in division of wards

The gram panchayat elections have been stalled in 274 gram panchayats across the state as these villages were not mentioned in the panchayat elections held in four phases. There are a total of 13,371 gram panchayats in the state wherein elections were completed in 3,249 panchayats in the first phase. Polling will be held tomorrow (13th of this month) in 3,328 panchayats in the second phase and in 3,221 panchayats in the third phase on the 17th of this month.

The process of filing nominations for the fourth phase of elections to be held on February 21 in 3,299 villages is underway. Of these four installments, 274 panchayats have not been issued election notifications. The highest number of these is 69 in Guntur district. Those which were large gram panchayats a year ago have been classified into two according to the demand of the locals in many places. After that there was no division of wards in the respective panchayats, as a result, elections will not be held in them. There are cases in the courts regarding some panchayats. Therefore, elections will not be held for these panchayats either.

Meanwhile, the elections in some other panchayats were halted for various reasons even after the notification was issued to hold the elections. Elections in Sripotti Sriramulu Nellore District Velicharla Panchayat were halted due to non-filing of nominations for Sarpanch and Ward posts despite notification in the first phase. Panchayati Raj officials said elections in three of the panchayats where the second phase notification was issued have stalled.

The deadline for withdrawal of nominations of the third phase and filing of nominations for the fourth installment will end on Friday Nominations will be accepted until 5 pm on Friday in the villages where elections will be held in the fourth phase.