Telangana Assembly election : 8.52 per cent voter turnout recorded in first two hours

Hyderabad: Around 8.52 per cent polling was recorded in the first two hours in the Telangana Assembly election after voting began at 7 AM on Thursday, according to Election Commission of India.

The polling was going on briskly with people turned up at polling booths in large numbers since this morning.

Union Minister and Telangana BJP President G Kishan Reddy cast his vote at a polling station in Barkatpura here.

Telangana Pradesh Congress President A Ravanth Reddy caste his vote at a polling booth in Kodangal.

Telangana Minister K T Rama Rao and his wife Shailima exercised their franchise at a polling booth in Nandi Nagar in Banjara Hills.

Actor Venkatesh Daggubati cast his vote at Hyderabad Presidency Degree and PG College, Manikonda, in the Rajendranagar constituency of Ranga Reddy district.

AIMIM President Asaduddin Owaisi, Actor K Chiranjeevi and former cricketer and Congress Jubilee Hills MLA candidate Mohammad Azharuddin casted their votes in Hyderabad.

Actor Junior NTR and his family cast their votes at the polling booth in P Obul Reddy Public School in Hyderabad.

Meanwhile, the Congress has filed a formal complaint with the Election Commission against BRS MLA K Kavitha, accusing her of violating the Model Code of Conduct by allegedly urging the public to vote for BRS.

According to the complaint, K Kavita, after casting her vote at the DAV public School in Banjara Hills polling station, “violated the Election Code by appealing to the people to vote for BRS”.

The polling which started at 7 am will end at 5 pm in 106 constituencies and in 13 Left Wing Extremism (LWE) affected areas it will end at 4 pm.

The voters will exercise their franchise in 35,655 polling stations set up across the State.

There are as many as 2,290 contestants, including 221 women in the fray which includes Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao, his Minister-son K.T. Rama Rao, and TPCC President A. Revanth Reddy.

A total of 3,26,02,799 voters, comprising 1,62,98,418 men, 1,63,01,705 women, and 2,676 transgenders has to exercise their franchise.

The BRS is keen on extending its winning run that started in 2014, while the Congress has put up a spirited fight to win the polls having tasted defeat in 2018 and four year earlier, when the previous UPA government granted statehood to Telangana. The BJP has also left no stone unturned to come to power for the first time in the southern state.

The Counting of votes will be taken up on December 3.