As the vote-counting for phase 1 of the Andhra Pradesh gram panchayat poll concludes, the ruling YSRCP has claimed that most candidates backed by the party have won. The party on Wednesday evening claimed that 2637 candidates backed by the party have been elected as panchayat sarpanches. 525 sarpanches were unanimously elected. TDP meanwhile has claimed that they have secured a majority.
Panchayat elections are in principle not party-based though the candidates are often supported by political parties. The Election authorities allot locally available symbols to the candidates. This is giving room for parties to put forth tall claims and own the winning candidates.
The Minister for Municipal Administration and YSRCP leader Botsa Satyanarayana told the media that out of the total 3,249 panchayats that went to polls in phase 1, candidates backed by the YSRCP won 2637 seats.
“2637 seats have been won by the YSRCP backed candidates,” said Satyanarayana claiming that the figure amounted for 82% of the seats, “Those backed by the TDP alliance have managed to win 508 panchayats and the independent candidates with no affiliation to any party have won 99 panchayats. If it is calculated percentage wise, 82% of the seats have been YSRCP, TDP is at 15% and independents have got 3% of the seats.” he added.
As many as 7,506 candidates contested for sarpanch posts and 43,601 were in the fray for ward members. According to the Panchayat Raj Department, the first phase of the elections was held across 3,249 posts of panchayat sarpanch.
However, no nomination was filed for 525-gram panchayats. The previous sarpanches were thus elected unanimously.
TDP National President and former Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Wednesday asserted that their party supported candidates posted impressive victories in the first phase panchayat elections by ‘courageously fighting’ against the attacks, kidnappings, threats and atrocities committed by the ruling YCP with the connivance of the official and police machinery.
Naidu said that the people gave their mandate against the misrule and misdeeds of the Jaganmohan Reddy regime in the past 20 months. The verdict in the panchayat polls marked the 'beginning of the end' of the YCP rule in Andhra Pradesh.
Addressing the media, former CM and TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu appreciated the people and said, “The real heroes are the people. Despite various cases of violence and pressure, they stood their ground. They put their lives at risk and put up the fight. YSRCP itself is fake. The CM is also fake. They indulge in fake news and fake talk. They are claiming TDP is over. They should realize that the TDP is in the hearts of the people.”
The first phase of the polls was carried out across 2,723 panchayats in Andhra Pradesh. According to the State Election Commissioner N Ramesh Kumar, the polls on day one ended peacefully recording an 81.42 % voter turnout. The polls held will also elect 20,157 ward members.
The polls began at 6:30 AM and ended 3:30 PM, while vote counting began at 4 PM.
The three-stage gram panchayat polls will conclude on February 21.
The SEC hoped that the same trends would continue in the subsequent phases.
The elections were held using ballot paper and without any political party symbols.
A total of 29,732 polling stations were set up, of which 3,458 were identified as sensitive and 3,594 hypersensitive, the Panchayath Raj Department said.
The gram panchayat elections in Andhra Pradesh has had its fair share of controversy.
The gram panchayat polls were to be first held in 2020 but delayed by the APSEC due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. At the time the YSRCP government was eager to hold the polls but the SEC refused, citing the rising number of COVID-19 cases.
A year later the decision by the Andhra Pradesh State Election commission (APSEC) to conduct gram panchayat polls in February was met with resistance from the YSRCP government, the state government argued that officials were busy with the COVID-19 vaccine rollout. The APSEC however, pressed on with its effort to hold the polls.
The YSRCP government then challenged the decision to hold polls with the Andhra Pradesh High Court. The High Court first allowed the gram panchayat polls to be held in February but later issued an order halting the process. The issue finally went to the Supreme Court which said it will not interfere in the decision of the APSEC to hold the polls. The AP High Court stay was also set aside.