Elections to local bodies in rural areas in Andhra Pradesh, known as gram panchayats, were held in four phases on February 9, 13, 17 & 21. The polling percentage for all four phases combined was about 81 per cent. Elections are not held on a party basis but candidates are backed by political parties. Ruling YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) backed candidates swept the panchayat polls while the main Opposition was left a distant second. Elections were held in 13,097 gram panchayats out of which YSRCP won 10,382 while the TDP won 2,063 & others won 475. TDP finished a distant second with 501 seats. BJP in alliance with Pawan Kalyan’s Jana Sena Party won 46 seats and others, including independents, bagged 45 seats. YSRCP kept up its performance by winning 2635 seats in the second phase while the TDP backed candidates won 558 seats. In the third phase, YSRCP backed candidates won 2191 seats while TDP won 263.