HYDERABAD: Even before the Telangana State Election Commission (TGSEC) has finalised the schedule for gram panchayat elections, sarpanch posts are allegedly being auctioned in the guise of ‘unanimous elections’.
The state govt does encourage unanimous elections of sarpanch, but it is mainly to maintain harmonious atmosphere in villages and to avoid election expenditure – not outright auction in the name of ‘unanimous election’, officials said. The govt gives cash incentive of Rs 15 lakh to panchayats with a population above 5,000 and Rs 10 lakh to those with less than 5,000 residents for genuine unanimous election of sarpanch, officials said.
On Sunday, the sarpanch post in Gokulapadu village in Manopadu mandal in Jogulamba-Gadwal district was reportedly auctioned by village elders to pick a ‘unanimous’ sarpanch. Of the 12 participants, the winning bid was Rs 27.50 lakh and the ‘unanimously elected’ sarpanch agreed to pay the amount once the poll notification was issued. The village, which has about 550 voters, decided in the meeting that the amount will be used for construction of a temple and other development work.
The villagers, however, denied the auction and said the meeting was only about village development.
Sources said similar meetings have taken place in villages in Nalgonda, Karimnagar and Adilabad districts during weekends to decide the candidates for sarpanch post. Once elections are announced, village elders ensure that no one contests against the bidder, making the auction a ‘unanimous election’, sources said.
Political parties also never raise any objection to such ‘unanimous elections’ as the winner eventually works for the ruling party, sources said.
“Even in the previous gram panchayat elections in 2019, ‘unanimous elections’ happened, with sarpanch post being bought for Rs 10 lakh to Rs 20 lakh. Also, there is not much resistance for such auctions in remote panchayats,” a senior official of the panchayat raj department said.
Official sources said the Telangana SEC has taken a serious view of such auctions and directed all collectors to keep an eye on such cases.