Hyderabad: The State Election Commission on Monday released the schedule for the general elections to local bodies in Telangana.
The commission announced that the election notification will be issued on October 9. Polling will be held in 565 mandals in 31 districts, including 5,749 mandal parishads and 565 zila parishads. The commission said that ballot boxes and ballot papers will be used for polling and the ballot boxes will be procured from Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh.
A total of 1.67 crore rural voters, including 81.65 lakh men, 85.36 lakh women and 504 others, are eligible to exercise their franchise.
High-level meetings were held with the Chief Secretary, DGP and heads of key departments to finalise the election arrangements, in which all the officials assured the commission of conducting the elections as per the schedule.
As per the directions of the High Court, the Commission had sought an extension of 45 days to complete the election process, which was also approved by the State Government. The Commission has issued comprehensive guidelines for specific reservation for Mandals, Zilla Parishads and Gram Panchayats.
Polling will be held in 31,300 Mandal Parishad polling stations and 15,302 Zilla Parishad/Mandal Parishad locations. Voting will be held in 12,733 KGPs and 1,12,288 wards for Gram Panchayats, for which 15,522 polling stations will be set up.
The Commission has appealed to the voters and candidates to strictly follow the election code of conduct and ensure that all persons vote in a free and fair manner. Besides, the media has also been appealed to encourage public participation so that the elections are completed peacefully and successfully.
