Telangana SEC announces local body poll schedule; MPTC, ZPTC elections in 2 phases on Oct 23, Oct 27

Hyderabad: The Telangana State Election Commission (TSEC) on Monday announced the schedule for rural local body elections, ending weeks of speculation.

The polls will be conducted in five phases between October 23 and November 8 across 31 districts, covering ZPTC, MPTC, and Gram Panchayat constituencies.

Poll schedule in five phases

The elections will be held for:

565 Zilla Parishad Territorial Constituencies (ZPTCs).

5,749 Mandal Parishad Territorial Constituencies (MPTCs).

12,733 Sarpanch posts.

1.12 lakh Gram Panchayat wards.

ZPTC & MPTC polls: October 23 and October 27 (two phases).

Gram Panchayat polls: October 30, November 4, November 8 (three phases).

The election process will conclude with the counting of ZPTC and MPTC votes on November 11, and results will be declared the same day.

Model Code of Conduct in Effect

State Election Commissioner (SEC) Rani Kumudini said the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) comes into force immediately in all poll-bound districts. Elections will not be held in Hyderabad and Medchal-Malkajgiri districts.

1.67 Crore voters in fray

A total of 1.67 crore voters are eligible to cast their votes, including 81.65 lakh men, and 85.36 lakh women.

While Sarpanch elections will be held on a non-political basis, the ZPTC and MPTC polls will be contested on party lines.

Massive Polling Arrangements

To ensure smooth polling, the TSEC will set up:

31,300 polling stations across 15,302 locations for ZPTC and MPTC elections

1.12 lakh polling stations in 15,522 locations for Gram Panchayat polls

Voting will be conducted using ballot papers and ballot boxes, with ballot boxes borrowed from Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh to meet the requirement.

Legal stays on few seats

Polls will not be held in:

14 MPTCs

27 Gram Panchayats

246 wards

This is due to stay orders issued by the courts.

Electoral Rolls Finalized

The final electoral rolls were published on September 10, following a special revision by the Election Commission of India (ECI) in July. Objections and corrections were taken into account before the notification of vacancies.