HYDERABAD: As many as 23 candidates are in the fray for the Warangal parliamentary constituency byelection to be held on November 21 between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. Counting of votes will take place on November 24 from 8 a.m. and results would be announced on the same day.
Of the 23 contesting candidates, four are from national and state parties (BJP, Congress, TRS and YSRC), seven candidates are from registered political parties and remaining 12 candidates are contesting as independents, chief electoral officer of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh Bhanwar Lal told reporters here on Saturday.
Of the total 38 candidates who filed nominations, seven nominations were rejected after scrutiny while eight withdrew their candidature.
For the first time, stamp-size photos along with party symbols and name of the candidates would be printed and attached to the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs). None of the Above (NOTA) option will also be included in the EVMs to facilitate voters in exercising their NOTA option in the elections, he said.
Bhanwar Lal said the Warangal Lok Sabha Constituency has 15,09,671 voters of which 7,57,231 are male, 7,52,293 women and 147 belong to the third gender. Polling will be conducted in as many as 1,778 polling station covering seven Assembly segments. About 471 polling stations have been identified as sensitive which are located in Bhupalpalle which is extremist-affected area having borders with Chhattisgarh.
To check malpractices during the polls, there will be live webcasting from the polling stations as well as videography, Bhanwar Lal said. The electoral rolls are available on CEO website- www.ceotelangana.nic.in. Electors can verify their names from the list available in the CEO’s website. Electors can also verify their names by sending SMS to 8790499899 by typing VOTE
The booth-level officers will issue voting slips to the voters. Voters need not show any other ID proof if they have voting slips.
For peaceful conduct of polls special teams have been constituted .
A 24X7 control room at the Warangal collectorate has been set up for election- related complaints on toll free phone number 1800-4252-2747.
Step Up Vigilance for Bypoll, Congress Urges CEC
Hyderabad: Ponguleti Sudhakar Reddy, deputy leader of the Congress in Telangana Legislative Council urged chief election commissioner (CEC) to direct chief electoral officer, Telangana to step up vigilance during campaigning and polling for Warangal byelections. In a letter addressed to the CEC on Saturday, Sudhakar Reddy expressed apprehensions that Telangana government would spend huge money and use liquor to influence the voters. The TRS government has already deployed ministers as campaign incharges for Warangal bypoll and announcing several sops to lure the voters.