Filing of nominations begins peacefully for gram panchyat polls phase-I in AP
Vijayawada: Filing of nominations for Phase I of Gram Panchayat polls began on Friday in a peaceful manner across Andhra Pradesh. No incident was reported from any part of the state, police said.
As the nominations for village sarpanch and ward member are being accepted in 12 districts -- with the exception of Vizianagaram -- on the first day, 1,315 nominations were filed for sarpanch posts and 2,200 nominations for ward member posts.
District-wise break up of nominations for sarpanch and ward member posts respectively is as follows: Anantapur 77 and 76; Chittoor157 and 105; East Godavari 248 and 648; Guntur 127 and 217; Kadapa 73 and 98l Krishna 63 and 147; Kurnool 85 and 156; Nellore 27 and 46; Prakasam 41 and 65; Srikakulam 141 and 138; Visakhapatnam 194 and 360; and West Godavari 82 and 144.
As per the schedule from the State Election Commission, nominations will be accepted up to Jan.31. On Feb. 1, they will be subjected to scrutiny and any appeal against rejection of nomination would be accepted on Feb. 2. Disposal of appeals will be on Feb. 3 and the last date for withdrawal of nomination is Feb. 4. Polling will be held on Feb. 9 from 6.30 am to 3.30 pm and counting of votes will be taken up from 4.00 pm the same day. The results will be declared soon after.
In Chittoor division, the election authorities have set up 92 centres across 20 mandals to receive nominations. There are 4,412 wards and 454 gram panchayats going for polls in phase-I. In Nellore district district, 163 gram panchyats in nine mandals are up for polls.
East Godavari collector D. Muralidhar Reddy visited panchayat offices located at Achampete in Samalkot mandal and also R.B. Patnam in Peddapuram mandal and said steps are being taken to ensure unanimous elections in a transparent manner.
