More Women Vote in Local Polls Than Men in Nizamabad

Nizamabad: The polling process for the third phase of gram panchayat elections in Nizamabad district concluded peacefully on Wednesday amid tight security arrangements.

Polling began at 7 am, with voters braving cold weather and queuing up at polling stations from early morning to exercise their franchise. Officials said an average turnout of 23.35 per cent was recorded by 9 am, which rose to 54.69 per cent by 11 am.

District election officer and collector T. Vinay Krishna Reddy visited polling stations at Balkonda and Ankapur schools and reviewed the voting process and arrangements. He inspected the availability of help desks, medical camps and other facilities for voters. Elaborate arrangements were made across Armoor, Balkonda, Bheemgal, Donkeshwar, Mendora, Morthad, Mupkal, Nandipet, Velpur and Yergatla mandals.

In the third phase, 19 of the 165 sarpanch posts were filled unanimously by the close of nominations, while elections were held for the remaining 146 posts. Similarly, out of 1,620 ward member posts, 490 were unanimously elected and polling was conducted for the remaining 1,130 posts. A total of 1,490 polling stations were set up, with large voter participation reported.

District officials undertook extensive voter awareness campaigns through various media, distributed photo voter slips and set up help desks with BLOs to guide voters. The collector said wide publicity was also given to the provision allowing voters without EPIC cards to vote using any one of the 18 alternative identity documents approved by the Election Commission, which helped improve turnout.

Collector T. Vinay Krishna Reddy said polling across all three phases was peaceful, with no untoward incidents reported. Additional police forces were deployed at sensitive polling stations, webcasting was conducted, and micro-observers closely monitored the process. Polling and local conditions were also continuously monitored from the Collectorate through webcasting.

Polling continued till 1 pm, and voters present in queues within the stipulated time were allowed to vote as per Election Commission rules. Counting began from 2 pm under tight security, with officials instructed to ensure error-free counting and timely declaration of results.

General Election Observer Shyam Prasad Lal visited several polling stations, including those at Bheemgal, Bada Bheemgal, Ramannapet, Morthad, Ankapur, Mupkal and Balkonda, and reviewed the polling process. Balkonda MLA V. Prashanth Reddy cast his vote along with family members at his native Velpur mandal headquarters, while Armoor MLA Paidi Rakesh Reddy voted at the Ankapur ZP High School polling station. Police Commissioner P. Sai Chaitanya also toured various mandals during polling.

In neighbouring Kamareddy district, collector Ashish Sangwan and Police Superintendent M. Sharath Chandra visited several mandals to oversee polling. Elections were conducted peacefully in Jukkal and Banswada Assembly constituencies. An overall turnout of 85.95 per cent was recorded in the third phase, with Congress, BRS and BJP candidates winning at different places in Nizamabad and Kamareddy districts.