Surprise Defeats, Tight Races Mark Karimnagar Panchayat Polls
Counting for 369 Gram Panchayats began at 2 pm, with Ward Member ballots taken up first, followed by the Sarpanch results.
Karimnagar:The first-phase Gram Panchayat results in the erstwhile Karimnagar district delivered a series of dramatic upsets and razor-thin victories on Thursday, reshaping political expectations in several key mandals.
Counting for 369 Gram Panchayats began at 2 pm, with Ward Member ballots taken up first, followed by the Sarpanch results. The BRS suffered notable reverses in Jagtial district, including at KCR Thanda in Metpalli mandal, where Independent candidate Gulavath Manjula Ganesh defeated the BRS nominee by 169 votes to become Sarpanch.
In Kamalapur mandal of Karimnagar district, the BJP recorded a win but exposed internal rifts. The candidate backed by Union Minister Bandi Sanjay Kumar, Raikam Srinivas, defeated Raikam Sampath, supported by BJP MP Etala Rajendar, by 90 votes.
One of the closest contests of the day came from Bollaram village in Vemulawada Rural mandal (Rajanna Sircilla district), where Thokala Ramesh secured a Ward Member seat by just one vote, triggering wide discussion in the village.
A narrow victory was also recorded in Thimmapur Thanda (Jagtial), where BRS-backed candidate Megavath Latha won the Sarpanch post by 12 votes.
A rare family contest added further drama in Thimmaipally village, Korutla mandal. Here, daughter Sumalatha, backed by the ruling Congress, defeated her mother Shivaratri Gangavva, the BRS nominee, by 91 votes to win the Sarpanch post.
