Second Phase of Gram Panchayat Polls Ends Peacefully in Karimnagar Region
The elections also threw up human-interest stories and enforcement-related incidents
Karimnagar: The second phase of the gram panchayat elections concluded peacefully on Sunday across rural areas of the erstwhile Karimnagar district, witnessing high voter participation and a few unexpected political developments.
Overall polling percentages were notably high, with Karimnagar district recording 86.58 per cent turnout, followed by Rajanna Sircilla district with 84.41 per cent. Counting revealed several noteworthy results across mandals.
In a keenly contested election at Sriramnagar village in Raikal mandal of Jagtial district, Radhika, supported by the BJP, won the sarpanch post by a margin of 14 votes against her father-in-law Satyanarayana, who was backed by the Congress.
The BRS suffered a setback in Ananthapalli village of Chandurthi mandal in Rajanna Sircilla district, where newly elected sarpanch Chiluka Babu, supported by the BRS, along with ward members and local party leaders, defected to the Congress. State government whip and Vemulawada mla Aadi Srinivas welcomed them into the party.
The elections also threw up human-interest stories and enforcement-related incidents. Akula Rakesh, a 30-year-old civil engineering graduate who studied in London, won a ward member seat in Bandalingapur gram panchayat of Metpally mandal in Jagtial district in his first electoral contest. He was later appointed deputy sarpanch, with a focus on development works in his native village.
In Dharmaram mandal of Peddapalli district, only one transgender voter from Mallapur village exercised the franchise, though four transgender persons reside across 29 villages in the mandal. Two eligible voters did not vote, while Nayakampally gram panchayat witnessed unanimous elections to the sarpanch and ward member posts.
In a separate incident at Yellareddypet mandal, the husband of a BRS ward member, Badhe Ramesh, was allegedly caught by excise officials while transporting 48 bottles of liquor worth about `10,000 on a two-wheeler. A case was registered and the vehicle seized, triggering discussion in the area.
