Second Phase of Gram Panchayat Polls Ends Peacefully in Karimnagar Region

Karimnagar: The second phase of gram panchayat elections ended peacefully in rural areas of erstwhile Karimnagar district on Sunday, witnessing high voter turnout and several unexpected political developments.

The overall voting percentages were quite high; Karimnagar district recorded 86.58 per cent turnout, followed by Rajanna Sircilla district with 84.41 per cent. Counting revealed several notable results across pegs.

In a highly contested election held in Sriramnagar village in Raikal mandal of Jagtial district, Radhika, supported by the BJP, won the post of sarpanch by a margin of 14 votes against her father-in-law Satyanarayana, who was supported by the Congress.

BRS suffered a setback in Ananthapalli village of Chandurthi mandal in Rajanna Sircilla district; Here the newly elected sarpanch Chiluka Babu, supported by BRS, defected to the Congress along with ward members and local party leaders. State government whip and Vemulawada mla Aadi Srinivas invited them to the party.

The elections also brought to the fore humanitarian interest stories and sanctions-related events. Akula Rakesh, a 30-year-old civil engineering graduate studying in London, won the ward member seat in Bandalingapur gram panchayat of Metpally mandal in Jagtial district in his first election contest. He was later appointed deputy sarpanch, focusing on development work in his native village.

In Dharmaram mandal of Peddapalli district, only one transgender voter from Mallapur village is eligible to vote, while four transgender people reside in 29 villages in the mandal. While two eligible voters did not vote, Nayakampally gram panchayat witnessed unanimous elections to the posts of sarpanch and ward member.

In a separate incident in Yellareddypet Mandal, the husband of BRS ward member Badhe Ramesh was allegedly caught by tax officials while transporting 48 bottles of liquor worth around $10,000 on a two-wheeler. The recording of the incident and the seizure of the vehicle sparked controversy in the region.