Filing of nominations for Panchayat polls will starts from today

The notification for the first phase of Panchayat elections will be issued on January 7. The first phase of the elections will be held on January 21.These will be the first Panchayat elections held in the newest State of the country. On January 21, its people will elect as many as 4,480 Sarpanches, 39,832 ward members in over 197 mandals. While the candidates themselves won’t be fighting on party lines, TRS and Congress will nevertheless try to put up good numbers. The polls assume more significance due to the fact that the next major elections after it will be for the Lok Sabha.

The State government will grant a sum of `10 lakh each to Gram Panchayats for development works if the villagers unanimously elect their Sarpanches. Besides this, TRS leader KT Rama Rao has promised an additional `15 lakh to each village if they do so in his constituency of Sircilla.

Meanwhile, the State Election Commission Secretary Ashok Kumar on Sunday said that a grievance/complaint cell has been set up AC Gardens to clarify the candidates’ doubts and receive complaints from the the public. It will operate between 9 pm to 9 am every day at 040-29802895. The SEC has clarified that candidates need not open separate bank accounts for election expenditure, they can furnish details of their existing accounts.

A candidate can contest simultaneously for Sarpanch and ward member. But he/she shall have to retain one office and vacate the other. The MPTCs and ZPTCs can also contest in the elections, on similar conditions. However, no candidate can contest more than one ward.