Telangana Congress Consolidates Lead, Wins Majority of Sarpanch Posts in Third Phase of Gram Panchayat Elections

Hyderabad, Dec 2025 : Telangana’s ruling party, Congress, continued its dominant performance in the Gram Panchayat elections by securing the majority of Sarpanch posts in the third and final phase held on Wednesday. Out of the 4,159 Gram Panchayats notified for the concluding phase, Congress-backed candidates emerged victorious in 2,208 Panchayats, according to results announced up to 10 p.m.

Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) put up a strong challenge, winning 1,145 Sarpanch seats, while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lagged significantly, securing only 239 positions. Independents and other smaller parties captured 488 seats.

With the conclusion of all three phases, Congress has now won 6,794 Gram Panchayats out of a total of 12,727 notified by the State Election Commission (SEC). BRS secured 3,503 Panchayats, BJP managed 697, and independents along with other parties claimed 1,651 seats. Results for 51 Gram Panchayats were still awaited, and elections in 29 villages could not be conducted due to various administrative and legal reasons.

Wednesday’s polling covered 3,752 Sarpanch posts and 28,410 Ward Member positions across 182 mandals in 31 districts of Telangana. A total of 12,652 candidates contested for the Sarpanch posts, while 75,725 candidates were in the fray for Ward Member positions. Approximately 53 lakh voters were eligible to cast their votes across 36,483 polling stations. Polling began at 7 a.m. and continued until 1 p.m., with an overall turnout of about 81 per cent. Counting of votes commenced at 2 p.m.

For the third phase, the SEC had issued notifications for 4,159 Gram Panchayats. Sarpanches were elected unanimously in 394 villages, while 11 Panchayats received no nominations. Polls could not be held in two Panchayats due to court orders. The first two phases, conducted on December 11 and 14, had also recorded over 80 per cent voter turnout, reflecting strong participation from rural citizens.

Earlier last month, the SEC had issued notifications for elections to 12,728 Sarpanch posts and 1,12,242 Ward Member posts, with 1.66 crore eligible voters in rural areas expected to participate.

Elections for Mandal Parishad Territorial Constituencies (MPTCs), Zilla Parishad Territorial Constituencies (ZPTCs), and municipal corporations will be scheduled after the High Court delivers its final orders on the 42 per cent reservation for Backward Classes (BCs) in local bodies. In October, the High Court had struck down the government’s order providing 42 per cent reservation for BCs but allowed elections to proceed with a 50 per cent cap on total reservations across all categories.

The third phase results underscore Congress’ continued rural stronghold in Telangana and set the stage for subsequent local body elections in the state, as parties gear up for the upcoming MPTC, ZPTC, and municipal corporation polls.