Hyderabad, Dec 14 (AHN) Polling was underway for the second phase of Gram Panchayat elections in Telangana on Sunday.

The polling, which began at 7 a.m. under tight security, will continue till 1 p.m. The counting of votes will be taken up from 2 p.m.

The second phase of polls is being held for 3,911 Sarpanch posts and 29,917 Ward Member posts in 193 mandals.

A little over 57.22 lakh voters (29.26 lakh female and 27.96 lakh male) would decide the fate of 12,782 candidates for Sarpanch posts and 71,071 for Ward Member posts.

Under the second phase of elections, the State Election Commission (SEC) had issued a notification for 4,333 Sarpanch posts and 38,350 Ward Member posts. Of the candidates for 415 Sarpanch and 8,307 Ward Members were elected unopposed. No nominations were filed for 108 Ward Member posts.

Elections are not being conducted in two Gram Panchayats and 18 Wards. Polling is being held for the remaining Sarpanch and Ward Member posts.

The SEC had deployed 4,593 returning officers, 30,661 employees to conduct the second phase of elections. A total of 2,489 micro-observers have been appointed to oversee the poll process.

The SEC is using 40,626 ballot papers, and it has arranged webcasting at 3,769 sensitive polling stations.

After the polling, elected Ward Members will meet to choose Upa (Deputy) Sarpanches.

The first phase polls were held on December 11, and 3,834 Sarpanches, 27,346 Ward Members and 3,347 Upa Sarpanches were elected. While 56,19,430 were registered voters, 45,15,141 exercised their franchise, registering 84.28 per cent turnout.

The ruling Congress party claimed a sweeping lead in the first phase with the victory of 2,864 Congress-backed candidates in the Sarpanch elections. Congress-supported candidates won 67.63 per cent of the total 4,235 sarpanch seats. BRS-backed candidates won 1,143 seats (26.99 per cent), BJP-supported candidates bagged 185 seats (4.37 per cent), while Independents and others accounted for 43 seats (1.02 per cent).

As per the notification issued by the State Election Commission last month, the panchayat elections will be held in three phases on December 11, 14 and 17 for 12,728 Sarpanch posts and 1,12,242 Ward Member posts.

A total of 1.66 crore votes in rural areas are eligible to cast their votes in these elections.

The Telangana Cabinet last month decided to conduct only Gram Panchayat elections in December as the Rs 3,000 crore grant, which should come from the Centre, will lapse by March 31, 2026.

Elections for Mandal Parishad Territorial Constituencies (MPTCs), Zilla Parishad Territorial Constituencies (ZPTCs) and municipal corporations will be held after the High Court's final orders on 42 per cent reservation for Backward Classes (BCs).

In October, the High Court struck down a government order providing 42 per cent reservation for BCs in local bodies but allowed conduct of the elections with a 50 per cent cap on total reservation for all sections.