HYDERABAD: Polling is underway for second ordinary elections to 116 municipalities and seven municipal corporations across Telangana amid tight security on Wednesday.
Till 9 am, about 11.16 percent of percent of voting has been reported. The voting, which began at 7 am will continue till 5 pm. The poll results will be announced on February 13, 2026, according to Telangana State Election Commission (TSEC). Overall, around 12,930 candidates are contesting the polls.
A total of 52,17,413 voters are eligible to cast their votes covering 2,582 wards in municipalities, of which 12 wards have been declared unanimously elected, one ward has had polling adjourned and voting is under progress in the remaining 2,569 wards in as many as 6,017 polling stations. A total of 10,719 candidates are contesting municipal ward elections.
In seven Municipal Corporations, polling is being being held in 412 wards, 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. Of the total electorate stands at 52,17,413 voters, including 25,49,750 men, 26,67,025 women and 638 others.
Overall, around 12,930 candidates are contesting the polls. The TSEC has appointed 1,379 Returning Officers and deployed 41,773 polling personnel. Webcasting facilities have been arranged at over 8,191 polling stations, and 16,382 ballot boxes will be used.
The TSEC has postponed polling in one ward in Makthal municipality in Narayanpet district following the suicide of a BJP candidate on Monday night.
To ensure law and order, police had made elaborate security arrangements with deployment of around 25,000 police personnel. Bandobust arrangements were made for a total of 8,203 polling stations, of which 1,302 were classified as hyper-sensitive, 1,926 as sensitive and 4,975 as normal.
To ensure smooth conduct of the polling, more than 3,000 additional personnel drawn from the Telangana State Police, Forest, Excise, CID, Legal Metrology and other departments were deployed.
Repolling, if any, will be held on Thursday, while counting of votes will be taken up the following day. Election to Mayor and Municipal chairpersons and vice-chairpersons will be elected on February 16, 2026.
TSEC Commissioner, Rani Kumudini appealed to all voters to exercise their franchise. She said voters can download their voter slips from the SEC website or the TE-POLL app.
Meanwhile, in view of the ULB elections, the state government has declared a paid holiday on polling day on Wednesday for all employees – both government and private – working in factories, shops and industrial units located in areas where elections are to take place to enable them to exercise their franchise. The order has been issued under Section 3 of the Telangana Factories and Establishments (National, Festival and Other Holidays) Act and Section 31 of the Telangana Shops and Establishments Act.