Hyderabad, May 13 (UNI) After a high-voltage election campaign, polling began in the state of Telangana at 7 am on Monday amid tight security.
Elections are taking place in a single phase in the 17 parliamentary constituencies in the state and in Secunderabad assembly constituency bypoll, with the counting of the votes scheduled for June 4.
Before commencement of the polling, the polling personnel conducted a mock polling at 5.30 am.
Over 3.31 crore voters including over 1.66 crore female voters are expected to exercise their franchise at 35,356 polling stations across the state, where the fate of 525 candidates will be decided.
As many as 15 candidates are in the fray for the Secunderabad Assembly bye-election.
According to Telangana Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Vikas Raj, polling in Maoist-affected assembly segments of parliamentary constituencies, would conclude at 4 pm while it will be 6 PM at all the other polling stations.
Elaborate arrangements have been made by deploying more than 2.94 lakh polling staff at all polling stations, he said.
As many as 9,900 critical polling stations have been identified in the state, he said, adding “We have set up 328 polling stations for remote areas”.
According to Director General of Police Ravi Gupta, tight security arrangements have been put in place by deploying more 73,000 state police personnel besides 164 companies of central armed police force and other specialized units to ensure smooth and orderly polling.
Ever since the model code of conduct (MCC) came into force on March 16, 2024, about Rs 320 crore were seized across the state.
Of the total 525 candidates, including 286 independents left in the fray, the maximum number of 45 candidates is in Secunderabad parliamentary constituency while the lowest number of 12 contestants is in the fray from Aliabad (ST) constituency.
Union Minister and Telangana state BJP President G Kishan Reddy is seeking re-election from the Secunderabad parliamentary constituency while Danam Nagender of Congress is keen to wrest the seat.
BJP national General Secretary Bandi Sanjay Kumar is contesting again from Karimnagar while AIMIM President Asaduddin Owaisi is seeking re-election for a fifth consecutive term from Hyderabad Lok Sabha constituency.
In the 2019 elections, the BRS had won nine seats while the BJP had bagged four seats. The Congress could win three seats while AIMIM had retained its lone seat.
