New Delhi: The state of Telangana witnessed the beginning of polling for all 119 Assembly seats on Thursday morning amid elaborate safety and logistical preparations. The voting course of started at 7 am and can finish at 6 pm. The election is a three-cornered contest amongst 2,290 candidates representing 109 nationwide and regional events, together with 221 ladies and one transgender.
The final result of the election can be determined by 3.17 crore voters who will train their franchise at 35,655 polling stations throughout the state. Out of the 103 incumbent legislators, most of them belong to the ruling Bharat Rasthra Samithi (BRS), which is aiming for a 3rd consecutive time period in energy.
The state election fee has launched a house voting facility for the primary time in Telangana for individuals with disabilities and senior residents above 80 years of age. About 27,600 voters have registered for the house voting service, which can be performed on Thursday. Another 1,000 voters have opted for the Electronically Transmitted Postal Ballot System.
On Wednesday, the state’s Chief Electoral Officer, Vikas Raj, stated that the election fee had made all the mandatory preparations to make sure a clean and honest polling course of. He spoke to ANI and stated, “A total of 35,655 polling stations have been put together in Telangana. Also, conforming to the instructions of the Election Commission, we have arranged model polling stations and all-women polling stations.”
He added, “We have also identified about 12,000 critical polling stations for which we have arranged the deployment of additional forces. Apart from central forces, there will also be micro-observers to ensure free and fair polling in the state. Areas declared as Left Wing Extremism (LWE)-affected will see the deployment of central forces in addition to state forces.”
He additionally stated that about 27,000 voters had already forged their votes by way of the home-voting association. “We will also arrange transportation for the returning officers to enable smooth movement to their designated centres,” he stated. He additional stated that every polling station would have volunteers to help disabled and wheelchair-bound voters.
Moreover, there can be braille posters and ballots for the visually impaired and posters in signal language for the hearing-impaired. “We have made all requisite arrangements for our polling staff,” he stated. The election is seen as a high-stakes battle for energy and status among the many three principal contenders: the ruling BRS, the Congress, and the BJP.
The BRS is banking on its observe file and guarantees of the final 10 years to win the belief of the voters. The Congress is hoping to get sufficient assist to type its first authorities within the state. The BJP can be vying to finish the “misrule and corruption” of the BRS. Some of the distinguished candidates within the fray are Chief Minister Okay Chandrashekar Rao, his son and minister Okay T Rama Rao, state Congress President A Revanth Reddy, and BJP Lok Sabha members Bandi Sanjay Kumar and D Arvind.
If Okay Chandrashekar Rao, popularly referred to as KCR, secures one other time period in workplace, he’ll develop into the primary Chief Minister from a Southern state to get a 3rd consecutive time period in workplace. KCR is contesting from two seats: his authentic seat Gajwel and Kamareddy. He is going through a troublesome problem from BJP chief Etela Rajender in Gajewal and Congress state unit chief Revanth Reddy in Kamareddy.
Both Etela and Revanth Reddy are additionally combating from two seats every: the BJP chief from Huzurabad and the Congress chief from Kodangal. One of probably the most talked-about seats is Korutla, the place BJP has fielded Lok Sabha me