Hyderabad: In the lead-up to the first phase of gram panchayat polls in Telangana, 395 sarpanches secured their seats unopposed, according to the State Election Commission. Elections will be held on December 11 in 3,836 villages from the total 4,236 notified.
Five villages received no nominations for the sarpanch post. A total of 8,095 candidates withdrew their nominations for sarpanch, while 9,626 did the same for ward member posts. Out of 37,440 ward seats, 149 did not attract a single nomination. Meanwhile, 9,331 ward members were also elected unopposed.
Currently, 13,127 candidates are contesting for 3,836 sarpanch posts. For 27,960 ward seats, 67,893 candidates remain in the race.
Auctioned posts go unchallenged amid no formal complaints
Several sarpanch seats reportedly changed hands through village-level auctions. Although the Election Commission deployed teams under district collectors to probe these cases, villagers did not file official complaints. Without evidence, returning officers went ahead and declared such candidates unopposed.
Officials admitted they received reports on auctioned elections, but said they couldn’t act due to lack of verifiable proof. As a result, candidates who won posts through auctions remained unchallenged.
Among districts, Vikarabad led with 39 unopposed sarpanches. Adilabad followed with 33, then Nizamabad with 29, and Nalgonda with 22. Karimnagar saw the fewest, with just three.
Other districts included: Medak, Siddipet, Bhongir, and Nirmal (16 each); Gadwal (15); Bhadradri Kothagudem and Nagarkurnool (14 each); Kamareddy and Warangal (11 each); Mahbubnagar and Jangaon (10 each); Mancherial and Ranga Reddy (6 each); Vanaparthy (5); Hanamkonda, Jagtial, and Peddapalli (4 each); and Narayanpet (1).
In total, 81,020 candidates will contest 31,796 posts during the December 11 phase.
