T'gana Hyderabad, Jan 21 (PTI) Over 85 per cent polling wasrecorded in the first phase of the panchayat elections ofTelangana held Monday, poll officials said. This is the first ever polls for panchayats after theformation of the State in 2014. As many as 41.56 lakh people exercised their franchiseagainst 48.46 lakh eligible voters in the first phase, anofficial communication said. Polling began at 7 am and ended at 1 pm even as countingwas taken up from 2 pm. Though 4,479 panchayats were scheduled to go the polls inthe first phase, the election was declared unanimous in 769panchayats, and election to another nine was cancelled due toother reasons. As many as 12,202 candidates are contesting for sarpanchposts in 3,701 panchayats while 70,094 candidates are in thefray for 28,974 wards, a senior official of the State ElectionCommission had earlier said. Though the elections are held without any involvement ofpolitical parties and party symbols, all major politicalparties have thrown their weight behind their sympathisersconcerned. To a query, TRS MP Vinod Kumar told PTI that theelections were held without any political party symbols and itwas not proper to comment on the political affiliations of thewining candidates. "But I can say 90 per cent of the winning candidatesworked for our party during the recently concluded Assemblypolls and I believe they are going to work with us in futurealso," he claimed. Counting of votes is still underway and complete resultswould be declared later, the official said. About 55 ,000 police personnel were deployed foroverseeing security arrangements during the poll process,Telangana Additional DG ( law and order) Jitender told PTI. The second and third phases of the polls will be held onJanuary 25 and 30.
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