Hyderabad, Dec 17 (NationPress) Polling is currently taking place for the third and final phase of Gram Panchayat elections in Telangana on Wednesday.

The elections are being conducted for 3,752 Sarpanch positions and 28,410 Ward Members across 182 mandals in 31 districts.

A total of approximately 12,652 candidates are vying for Sarpanch posts, while 75,725 are competing for ward membership.

About 53 lakh voters are eligible to cast their votes at 36,483 polling stations throughout the state.

The polling commenced at 7 a.m. and will continue until 1 p.m., with vote counting scheduled to start from 2 p.m.

Cold wave conditions have affected voter turnout in several districts in northern Telangana.

The State Election Commission (SEC) issued a notification for polling in 4,159 Gram Panchayats during this third phase.

Sarpanches were elected unanimously in 394 villages, while no nominations were submitted for 11 Gram Panchayats. Elections for two Panchayats were halted due to court directives.

Out of the 36,452 ward member positions announced, 7,908 were filled unanimously, while elections were stayed in 18 wards, and no nominations were received for 116 wards.

The State Election Commissioner Rani Kumudini is overseeing the polling process from her office in Hyderabad, utilizing CCTV footage and a monitoring dashboard.

The SEC has deployed 43,856 ballot boxes for the elections and arranged webcasting at 3,547 polling stations to ensure transparency and effective monitoring.

Over 80% voter turnout was recorded in the initial two phases of elections held on December 11 and 14.

The Congress party secured more than half of the Gram Panchayats in these phases.

Congress-backed candidates claimed victory in 4,579 out of 8,568 Panchayat positions. The Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) came in second with 2,357 seats, while the BJP managed to secure only 457 seats. Independents and other candidates won 1,162 seats.

Last month, the SEC announced elections for 12,728 Sarpanch positions and 1,12,242 Ward Member positions.

In total, 1.66 crore votes from rural areas are eligible for these elections.

Elections for Mandal Parishad Territorial Constituencies (MPTCs), Zilla Parishad Territorial Constituencies (ZPTCs), and municipal corporations will be conducted following the High Court's final ruling on the 42% reservation for Backward Classes (BCs).

In October, the High Court annulled a government order that allocated 42% reservation for BCs in local bodies but permitted the elections to proceed with a 50% cap on overall reservations for all groups.