Polling began amid elaborate
arrangements in all 119 Assembly constituencies in Telangana at 7 am on
Thursday. Voting will conclude at 6 pm.
As many as 2,290 candidates from 109
national and regional parties including 221 women and one transgender are in
the fray. Their fate will be decided by a total of 3.17 crore voters.
A total of 103 legislators are
re-contesting this time, most of them from the ruling Bharat Rasthra Samithi
(BRS).
Voters would exercise their franchise at
35,655 polling stations set up across the State.
For the first time in Telangana, a home
voting facility is being provided to persons with disabilities and voters above
80 years of age.
Home voting for citizens aged over 80
years and persons with disabilities has also been made available, with about
27,600 voters enlisted to avail of the service on Thursday.
About 1,000 other voters have also
registered for the Electronically Transmitted Postal Ballot System.
Earlier, State’s Chief Electoral Officer
Vikas Raj said about 12,000 critical polling stations have been identified in
the State where additional forces will be deployed, and more than 2.5 lakh
staff will be engaged in poll duties.
“We have identified about 12,000
critical polling stations for which we have arranged the deployment of
additional forces. Apart from central forces, there will also be
micro-observers to ensure free and fair polling in the state. Areas declared as
Left Wing Extremism (LWE)-affected will see the deployment of central forces in
addition to state forces,” he added.
He added, “About 27,000 people have
already registered their votes through the home-voting arrangement. We will
also arrange transportation for the returning officers to enable smooth
movement to their designated centres.”
At each polling station, volunteers will
be stationed to help out disabled and wheelchair-bound voters.
In addition, there will also be braille
posters and ballots for the visually impaired to help them cast their votes.
Similarly, we have also put up posters in sign language for the
hearing-impaired. We have made all requisite arrangements for our polling
staff, the CEO added.
The ruling BRS is seeking a third term
of governance. The Congress is talking of support in its favour to form its
first government in the State, and the BJP is promising to end the “misrule and
corruption” of the BRS.
Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, his
minister-son K T Rama Rao, State Congress President A Revanth Reddy and BJP Lok
Sabha members Bandi Sanjay Kumar and D Arvind are among the list of key
contenders.
If K Chandrashekar Rao wins another term
in office, it will be the first occasion when a CM from a Southern State will
get a third straight term in office.
KCR is contesting from two seats – his
original seat Gajwel and Kamareddy. While he is facing BJP leader Etela
Rajender in Gajewal, Congress State unit chief Revanth Reddy is taking him on
in Kamareddy.
Apart from squaring off with KCR, both
Etela and Revanth Reddy are also contesting from two seats, with the BJP leader
from Huzurabad and the Congress’ best bet Reddy from Kodangal.
Among the highly discussed seats is
Korutla from where BJP has fielded Lok Sabha member Arvind Dharmapuri against
Kalvakuntla Sanjay of BRS, and Narsinga Rao Juvvadi of Congress.
Moreover, from Maheshwaram, the BRS has
pitted Patlolla Sabitha Indra Reddy against K Laxma Reddy (Congress) and Andela
Sriramulu Yadav (BJP).
From Goshamahal, the Bharatiya Janata
Party has fielded its Hindutva firebrand leader T Raja Singh.
The three parties have made big promises
in their manifestos. BJP leaders have accused the Chief Minister of being “inaccessible”
and ruling from a “farmhouse”.
BJP leaders have also accused KCR of
propagating dynastic politics and said that suggestions by KCR to join NDA were
not accepted.
BRS leaders have refuted the suggestions
about their intention to join the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance.
One of the key BJP promises is to make a
person from the Backward Class community a Chief Minister if the party gets
support from the people of the state to form a government.
The party has also reached out to
various communities and the BJP-led Government last week set in motion the
process of setting up a committee that will go into the issue of
sub-categorisation of the Madiga community within the Scheduled Castes. It has
been a long-pending demand of the community.
BJP has promised in its manifesto to
implement the Uniform Civil Code and quash 4 per cent reservation for Muslims
and instead increase the quota for OBCs, SCs and STs in the State.
It has promised four free LPG cylinders
per year to poor families, Rs 2 lakh to every girl child from a poor family
after she attains the age of 21, 2.5 lakh government jobs in five years,
procuring paddy at Rs 3,100 per quintal, and reducing the price of petrol and
diesel.
Congress has sought to outdo the BRS in
its poll promises and has announced six guarantees including Rs 2,500 monthly
financial assistance under the Mahalakshmi scheme for women, LPG cylinders at
Rs 500; and free travel for women in the State-run buses.
The party has promised up to 200 units
of free electricity to households, Rs 4,000 monthly pension will be paid to
vulnerable sections.
BRS leaders point out that the State’s
per capita income has seen a significant rise in the last 10 years due to
efforts of the government and various welfare and development schemes will
continue.
In 2018, BRS (then Telangana Rashtra
Samithi) won 88 of the 119 seats and had 47.4 per cent of the vote share. The
Congress came a distant second with just 19 seats.
ANI
