HYDERABAD: Polling for the 119 assembly seats in Telangana has been going on at a brisk and peaceful pace on Thursday, where the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (formerly TRS) is going all out to retain power in the state and achieve a hat trick, while the Congress is making strong efforts to wrest power from the BRS, which hopes to overcome the state's anti-incumbency factor.
Over 51.89% of polling was recorded until 3 p.m. and is likely to increase as the day progresses.
Polling started at 7 am and will continue until 5 pm. However, elections in 13 assembly constituencies would finish one hour earlier due to security reasons. As many as 3.26 crore voters will decide the future of the 2,290 candidates who are contesting the assembly polls. Of the 2,290 candidates, about 2,068 are men, 221 are women, and one is a transgender person.
There were some incidents of minor altercations or heated arguments between the supporters of the ruling BRS, BJP, and Congress. A scuffle broke out at a polling booth in Jangaon Assembly Constituency between the party workers of the ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), Congress, and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) while voting was underway.
A man was attacked by Congress workers for trying to vote in a polling booth where ‘he had no voting right’. The incident happened in Jangaon district while polling was underway.
The purported video of the scuffle was caught on camera and shared on social media, where it showed a group of angry men beating a man while policemen deployed in the polling booth tried to save him. The man was dragged outside the polling booth and eventually let off by the police. The alert police team reached the spot and diffused the situation. After some time, the man was let off.
Soon after the incident, Palla Rajeshwar Reddy visited the polling station and spoke to BRS activists. Chaos and scuffles broke out between BRS and Congress at a polling booth in Kamareddy. Police resorted to a mild lathi charge in Khanapur, Ibrahimpatnam.
Meanwhile, BRS President and Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar and his wife Shoba cast their vote in Chintamadaka in the Siddipet constituency. BRS Working President, K. T. Rama Rao, cast his vote at the Nandini Nagar GHMC community hall in the city. MLC, K. Kavitha, too cast her vote in Nandini Nagar.
TPCC President A. Revanth Reddy cast his vote in Kodangal. BJP state president and Union Minister G Kishan Reddy cast his vote in Baghlingampally, and AIMIM president and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi cast his vote in St. Faiz School in Rajendernagar.
Telangana Chief Electoral Officer Vikas Raj, along with his family, cast their vote at Narayana College in Sanathnagar. He urged the voters to come cast their votes and said that at some places, EVM reported technical snags, which were rectified by the engineers immediately. Some EVMs were replaced swiftly where there were teething problems. He said that voters could find out the location of their polling booths using the apps advertised by the Election Commission of India.
Elsewhere, polling is going at a brisk pace and is peaceful from 7 a.m. onwards. Long queues were seen at many polling stations in districts, while the voting was dull at several polling booths in Hyderabad and other urban areas. Despite the early morning chill, voters lined up to cast their votes when the voting began at 7 a.m.
Telangana Chief Secretary, Santhi Kumari, Telangana DGP, Anjani Kumar, and family cast their votes at the GHMC Sports Complex in Amberpet, Barrelakka (Karne Sirisha), voted in Marrikkal of Kollapur constituency.
Law enforcement agencies suggested that the following constituencies are Maoist-affected areas, and polling would conclude one hour before in Sirpur, Chennur, Bellampalli, Mancherial, Asifabad, Manthani, Bhupalpalle, Mulugu, Pinapaka, Yellandu, Kothagudem, Aswaraopeta, and Bhadrachalam.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi Thursday urged the people of Telangana to vote in record numbers in the assembly polls and strengthen the festival of democracy.
Former Congress party chief Rahul Gandhi wrote on X: "Today, Prajala will defeat Dorala! Brothers and sisters of Telangana, step out and vote in large numbers! Vote to build a 'Bangaru' Telangana, Vote for Congress."
State Congress president and MP A Revanth Reddy voted in the Kodangal assembly segment where he is the party's candidate.
The Congress said it brought to the notice of Chief Electoral officer Vikas Raj alleged violation of the poll code by BRS leader Kavitha by making an appeal to the people to vote for BRS.
FACTBOX:
Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, BRS Working President K T Rama Rao, prominent ministers T Harish Rao, T Srinivas Yadav, TPCC President A Revanth Reddy, and BJP leaders Etela Rajender, Arvind Dharmapuri, Bandi Sanjay Kumar are some of the key faces among the 1,862 candidates in the fray.
Total Contesting Candidates - 2,290 (Male – 2,068, Female – 221, Transgender person –1)
Deployment of Forces : 45,000 Telangana Police, 3,000 of other departments like excise etc.
Over 2.50 lakh poll personnel have been deployed for poll duties.
As many as 65,000 police forces, including those from neighbouring states, 50 companies of Telangana State Special Police, and 375 companies of Central forces, have been deployed for security arrangements to ensure peaceful polling in the state.
A total of 35,655 polling booths and 299 auxiliary polling stations have been set up across the state.
Nearly 75,464 Ballot Units, 44,828 Control Units, and 49,460 VVPATs are being used for polling purposes.
(With additional inputs from PTI and ANI)