Bapatla District Announces Three-Phase Gram Panchayat Elections Starting November 26

Elections for 351 gram panchayats in Bapatla district will take place in three phases starting November 26, as announced by District Collector V. Vinod Kumar.

Election Schedule and Setup

Voting will cover 3,362 wards across 3,770 polling stations. The district has a total of 8,67,954 voters, which includes 4,23,910 men, 4,43,995 women, and 49 other voters. The first phase takes place on November 26 across six mandals in the Parchur constituency. The second phase covers seven mandals in the Vemuru and Chirala constituencies, while the third phase spans seven mandals in the Bapatla and Repalle constituencies.

Nomination and Polling Process

For the first phase, candidates can submit nominations from November 15 to 17, with scrutiny scheduled for November 18. Officials will handle appeals on November 19 and resolve them the following day. Candidates have until November 21 to withdraw nominations, which is also when the final candidate list comes out. Polling and vote counting occur on November 26, followed by the election of deputy sarpanches. Additionally, Bapatla municipality elections will also happen on November 26. Under G.O. No. 11, villages that choose their leaders unanimously will receive development grants ranging from 15 lakh rupees to 50 lakh rupees based on their population size.

Context

Gram panchayat elections form the base of rural local self-government in India, allowing villagers to choose local leaders who manage basic public works and village administration. State election authorities routinely schedule these large grassroots votes in phases to manage security forces and polling staff effectively across rural districts.