Telangana elections: Polling underway for 119 assembly seats; PM Modi urges voters to vote in ‘record numbers’
Telangana elections
Polling is underway in the Indian state of Telangana, as the state’s 32.6 million voters, on Thursday (Nov 30) will determine the fate of 2,290 candidates fighting for 119 seats in the assembly. The Indian PM whose Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is also contesting in the elections took to X and urged voters to vote in “record numbers”.
Telangana voting underway
The polling began at 7:00 am (local time) and will end at 5:00 pm (local time) in 106 constituencies, said State’s Chief Electoral Officer Vikas Raj. “7 am to 4 pm (local time) in 13 Left Wing Extremism (LWE) affected areas. More than 250,000 staff will be engaged in poll duties for the assembly elections,” he added.
Among the 2,290 candidates vying for the 119 seats are Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, his son and state’s IT minister KT Rama Rao, state Congress president A Revanth Reddy and BJP Lok Sabha members Bandi Sanjay Kumar and D Arvind.
The polling also follows intense campaigning by prominent national politicians like PM Modi, Congress Party’s Rahul Gandhi, and CM Rao of the state’s ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS). As BRS is trying to retain power for a third consecutive term, Congress and BJP have sought to wrest power from the ruling party.
BRS has fielded candidates in all 119 seats, BJP, per a seat-sharing agreement with Pawan Kalyan-led Jana Sena, is contesting on 111 and eight seats, respectively. Meanwhile, Congress has given one seat to its ally CPI and is fighting on the other 118.
Vote in ‘record numbers’
The Indian PM, who is set to attend the United Nations climate conference or COP28 in Dubai for two days from November 30 to December 1, took to X and urged voters to vote in “record number”.
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“I call upon my sisters and brothers of Telangana to vote in record numbers and strengthen the festival of democracy. I particularly urge young and first time voters to exercise their franchise,” said Modi, on X.
The results of the Telangana elections will be announced on December 3 along with the Indian states of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, and Mizoram where voting occurred between November 7 and November 25.
(With inputs from agencies)