Decline in unanimously elected panchayats as people decided to vote against Congres

Gram panchayat election results in the erstwhile Medak district indicate strong rural anger against the Congress government, with a sharp decline in unanimously elected panchayats. Voters chose to register protest through polling, reflecting anti-incumbency sentiment, political observers said.

Sangareddy: During the gram panchayat elections, people of the erstwhile Medak district expressed their anger over the failures of the Congress government by voting against it in a majority of villages.

The failure of the government was also exposed as many villages refused to go for unanimous elections, as they wanted to register their protest by voting against Congress-supported candidates. This came to light as the number of unanimously elected panchayats has come down considerably compared to the previous panchayat elections in the erstwhile Medak district.

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The number of unanimously elected panchayats came down to 21 from 96 in the last elections in Sangareddy, though there was a slight increase in the number of gram panchayats. In Medak, the number also came down to 21 from 84 in the last elections. Siddipet performed slightly better, though it too witnessed a decline in the number of unanimously elected panchayats from 48 in 2018 to 26 in 2025.

As there was strong opposition against the government in rural parts of Telangana, villagers chose to register their protest by participating in voting rather than electing their representatives unanimously.

The number of unanimously elected ward members also came down considerably. The polling percentage, which was recorded between 85 per cent and 90 per cent in three phases, was also seen as anti-incumbency by political experts.

Speaking to Telangana Today, a man from a village in Zaheerabad constituency said that Congress leaders forced them to make the panchayat unanimous. However, he said the attempt faced strong opposition. Eventually, he said the Congress-supported candidate and his panel were defeated in the election.