Hyderabad, Feb 11 (UNI) Voting for the municipalities and municipal corporations elections began on Wednesday morning across Telangana amid tight security arrangements.
Polling commenced at 0700 hours in 116 municipalities and seven municipal corporations and will continue until 1700 hours.
According to the Telangana State Election Commission (TSEC), elections are being held for 2,582 municipal wards. Of these, 12 wards have been declared unanimously elected, one ward has seen polling adjourned, and voting is underway in the remaining 2,569 wards across 6,017 polling stations. A total of 10,719 candidates are contesting the municipal ward elections.
In municipal corporations, polling is underway in 412 wards across seven corporations, with two wards declared unanimously elected. As many as 2,174 polling stations have been set up, and 2,225 candidates are in the fray.
The electorate comprises 52,17,413 voters, including 25,49,750 men, 26,67,025 women and 638 voters in the ‘others’ category. Overall, 12,930 candidates are contesting the municipal elections.
For the conduct of the polls, the Commission has appointed 1,379 Returning Officers and deployed 41,773 polling personnel. Webcasting facilities have been arranged at over 8,100 polling stations, and 16,382 ballot boxes are being used.
Director General of Police Shivdhar Reddy said elaborate security arrangements had been made, with the deployment of around 25,000 police personnel. He assured voters that they could cast their votes without fear and added that 100 per cent webcasting had been ensured at polling stations.
Meanwhile, the state government has declared Wednesday a holiday in municipalities and municipal corporations where elections are being held. The holiday applies to factories, shops, industries and offices within the respective municipal limits to facilitate voter participation.
The results of the municipal elections will be announced on February 13.
