The stage is set for polling in 92 urban local bodies in Andhra Pradesh on November 1

State Election Commissioner Anil Chandra Punetha addressed the media in Vijayawada on Saturday. Municipal Director P. Sampath Kumar and Inspector General of Police B. Raja Kumari are seen. | Photo credit: GN Rao

After days of hectic political activity and incidents of violence during the filing of nominations, elections to 92 urban local bodies (ULBs) in Andhra Pradesh are all set for November 1. Elections will be held in 13 Municipal Corporations and 79 out of 87 Municipalities and Nagar Panchayats.

Elections in eight Municipalities and Nagar Panchayats – Allagadda, Dachepalli, Darsi, Gurajala, Kamalapuram, Piduguralla, Proddatur and Rayachoti – were unanimous, with chairmen and councilors elected unopposed.

There was no unanimous election for the post of mayor in city enterprises. However, 118 of the 922 ward seats were elected unopposed, and ballots will be held for the remaining 804 wards. There are a total of 3073 candidates in the fray.

Polling for 2,382 constituencies will be held in Municipalities and Nagar Panchayats, with 6,669 candidates contesting. Elections in 637 precincts were unanimous, with one seat uncontested.

State Election Commissioner Anil Chandra Punetha said in a press conference on Saturday that 153 candidates are contesting for the post of mayor in the city corporations. A total of 367 candidates applied for 70 posts of Chairpersons in Municipalities and Nagar Panchayats. The chairmen of the remaining 17 urban local bodies have already been elected unanimously.

The mayors and chairmen are elected directly by the people following the passage of the Andhra Pradesh Municipal Laws (Fourth Amendment) Bill, 2026 in the legislature in August.

Mr. Punetha said the municipal corporations had a total of 59,97,918 voters, including 29,27,987 males, 30,69,166 females and 765 others. Municipalities and Nagar Panchayats had 39,38,096 voters, of which 19,01,239 were male, 20,36,179 female and 678 others.

A total of 376 returning officers and 518 assistant/other returning officers were deployed for municipal corporation elections. There were 1,073 Election Officers and 2,025 Assistant/Additional Election Officers on duty in Municipalities and Nagar Panchayats.

Up to 1,835 staff were deployed for webcasting in polling stations across the city’s local authorities. Strict security arrangements were made in 142 critical, 7,070 sensitive and 4,262 hypersensitive polling stations.

All necessary arrangements have been made in accordance with the directions of the Supreme Court, Mr. Punetha said. CCTV and webcast footage would be retained in cases where candidates or other interested parties approached election tribunals until disposal of the cases.

Published – 31 Oct 2026 20:03 IST