Gram Panchayat polls peaceful

Warangal: Barring a few sporadic incidents of group clashes, by and large the first phase of Gram Panchayat (GP) polls went off peacefully in the erstwhile district of Warangal on Monday. The polling held in GPs across 27 mandals of Warangal Urban, Warangal Rural, Jangaon, Mahabubabad and Jayashankar-Bhupalpally districts.

The election was held to 2,872 wards out of 4,102 wards in 608 villages. The election was declared unanimous in 138 panchayats. The voter turnout was low in the morning due to cold and it picked up later in the day.

The three mandals – Dharmasagar, Velair and Inavolu – of Warangal Urban district recorded a polling percentage of 89.02. As many as 65,446 of the total 73,516 voters exercised their voting right. Inavolu witnessed highest voter turnout with 90.97 per cent.

The first phase of GP polls covered 132 villages under seven mandals of Jayashankar-Bhupalpally district. District Collector Vasam Venkateshwarlu inspected several polling stations. The police averted a clash between two groups at Chinkunta village in Chityal mandal.

Warangal Rural District Collector M Haritha monitored the elections process. Commissioner of Police V Ravinder said that polling in the limits of Warangal Commissionerate – 294 villages under 13 mandals - was incident-free.