KADAPA: With the tenure of village sarpanches set to end in about three weeks, the State Election Commission (SEC) has stepped up preparations for conducting panchayat elections across Kadapa district.
The Commission has issued formal instructions to district panchayat officials to initiate the election process, following which administrative preparations are now underway. District authorities have begun compiling voter lists panchayat-wise and ward-wise.
The move has triggered political activity in villages across the district. Although panchayat elections are conducted on a non-party basis, the direct and indirect involvement of political parties is evident. Leaders of the NDA, the opposition YSRCP and other parties have started focusing on backing their prospective candidates.
According to officials, Kadapa district has a total of 619 gram panchayats and 6,006 ward positions spread across five revenue divisions. There are 6,127 polling booths, catering to an electorate of 11,19,796 voters as per the existing rolls.
District Panchayat Officer Rajyalakshmi has requested the District Collector, Sreedhar Cherukuri, to provide the Assembly constituency-wise voter lists as of January 1, 2026. Once received, these will be reorganised panchayat-wise and ward-wise.
As the sarpanches’ tenure ends on March 9, the SEC had already instructed district panchayat officials on February 6 to keep both soft and hard copies of electoral rolls ready.
The Rajampet revenue division covers Rajampet, Nandalur, T Sundupalli and Veeraballi mandals, it has 63 panchayats, 656 polling booths and around 1,36,984 voters.
The Badvel revenue division spreads across 11 mandals including Atlur, Badvel and Mydukur, it comprises 110 panchayats, 1,106 polling booths and 2,12,775 voters.
The Kadapa revenue division has 126 panchayats in nine mandals such as Kadapa, Kamalapuram and Ontimitta, it has 1,260 polling booths and 2,28,814 voters.
The Pulivendula revenue division consists of eight mandals, this division has 131 panchayats, 1,236 polling booths and 1,98,923 voters.
The Jammalamadugu revenue division is considered the largest in district, which includes 190 panchayats across nine mandals, with 1,867 polling booths serving 3,46,300 voters.
District election authorities said the election process would gain further momentum once the official voter lists are formally handed over by the Collector to the District Panchayat Officer.