Hyderabad, Jul 23: The stage is set for the first phase of polling in the Gram Panchayat elections in Andhra Pradesh today.
According to State Election Commission (SEC) officials, polling would be held for 6,140 sarpanch posts for which 18,377 candidates are in the fray.
The polling would be held from 7 AM to 1 PM and tight security and other arrangements have been made for peaceful voting, they said.
As many as 2,642 sarpanchs in the state have already been elected unopposed. Elections would be held for the office of sarpanch (village head) in 18,721 Gram Panchayats.
The elections, wherever required, are being held in three phases on July 23, 27 and 31.
Andhra Pradesh has 21,592 Gram Panchayats, of which 21,491 are going to polls.
The SEC has rescheduled elections in a number of villages due to heavy rains lashing the state for the past one week.
