Vote Counting Underway for Punjab and Telangana Local Body Elections

Hyderabad: The counting of votes for local self-government elections in Punjab and Telangana is taking place today. In Punjab, the counting is underway for the District Councils and Panchayat Samitis.

The elections were held on December 14 to select members for 347 zones across 22 District Councils and 2,838 zones across 153 Panchayat Samitis. Voter turnout was 48 percent, with over 9,000 candidates contesting.

In Telangana, the third phase of the Gram Panchayat elections, along with vote counting, is also scheduled for today. Voting for the final phase began at 7 am and ends at 1 pm, with counting starting at 2 pm.

A total of 12,652 candidates contested for the position of Sarpanch, while 75,725 candidates were in the fray for ward member positions. In 394 Sarpanch seats and 7,908 ward member seats, candidates were elected unopposed.

Voting took place across 36,483 polling stations, with 53 lakh voters eligible to participate. The elections covered 3,752 Gram Panchayats and 28,410 wards.

In Telangana, voter turnout in the first phase of elections on December 11 was 84.28 percent, while the second phase held on December 14 recorded 85.86 percent turnout.