The stage is set for the counting of votes of the recently concluded elections to Zilla Parishad (ZPTCs) and Mandal Parishad territorial constituencies (MPTCs) on Tuesday.

The counting will start at 8 a.m. and the results will be announced once the process is completed. Elections for 539 ZPTCs and 5,817 MPTCs were held in three phases on May 6, 10 and 14 in over 32,000 polling stations set up across the State.

The original counting was scheduled on May 27, but the Telangana State Election Commission has postponed the process following representations made by Opposition parties that the 40-day gap between the counting of votes and indirect elections to the ZP chairperson and MP president posts could lead to large scale horse trading.

The Commission accordingly sought amendments to the Telangana Panchayat Raj Act, 2018, paving the way for advancing the date of conduct of the indirect elections within few days after the completion of counting. The government had accordingly effected the amendments sought by the Commission and issued an Ordinance in this direction.

Indirect elections

Following this, the Commission had deferred the counting of votes to June 4. The date for indirect elections for the posts of ZP chairpersons, vice-chairpersons and MP presidents and vice-presidents had also been advanced in line with the request made by the Opposition parties. The indirect elections to these posts will be held on June 8.