Amravati: Elections to 16 districts in Andhra Pradesh are being held on Sunday amid tight security and adherence to COVID-19 norms. Voting for the fourth phase of Gram Panchayat elections is underway in Andhra Pradesh for 2,743 sarpanch and 22,423 ward member posts, according to a statement by the state's Panchayati Raj department.
Polling is conducted in 16 revenue divisions, 161 mandals of 13 districts and will go on till 3.30 pm. The state election commission has issued a notification to 3,299 panchayats and out of these 554 sarpanch seats are unanimous.
The nomination has not been filed at two places and 7,475 Sarpanch candidates are contesting for 2,743 panchayats.
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As per the information, polling in Naxal-hit areas will go on till 1.30 pm. Tight security arrangements have been made at 6,047 sensitive polling zones and at 4,967 highly sensitive polling areas.
A total of 67,75,226 voters are expected to cast their votes in the fourth phase of elections. 53,282 polling staff have been deployed at the polling booths and counting of votes will begin at 4 pm.
The third phase elections were conducted for 2,745 sarpanch and 22,514 ward member seats. Out of which, 554 sarpanch and 10,921 ward members were unanimously elected. No nominations have been filed for two sarpanch and 91 ward members post," informed Gopal Krishna Dwivedi, principal secretary, Panchayati Raj department.
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With ANI inputs