Barring a few incidents of minor skirmishes between the Telangana Rashtra Samithi and Bharatiya Janata Party cadres, the polling in the by-election to Huzurabad assembly constituency went on peacefully.
According to the latest Election Commission bulletin, the constituency witnessed a record turnout of 86 per cent of voters. There had been brisk polling all over the constituency since morning with people making beelines at every polling station.
“Those who were already in the queue at the time of closing hours were allowed to cast their vote. Similarly, special arrangements have been made for Covid-19 patients, if any, to exercise their franchise till 7 pm,” Telangana chief electoral officer Shashank Goel said.
The polling percentage, therefore, is expected to go up further after 7 pm. The final polling figures would be disclosed only after collecting the data from all the 306 polling stations, he said.
While former state health minister Eatala Rajender, whose resignation from the assembly seat led to the by-election in Huzurabad, is fighting the by-election on the BJP ticket, ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi has fielded its student wing leader Gellu Srinivasa Yadav. The Congress also fielded its state NSUI president Balmuri Venkat.
In the morning, there were reports of clashes between the TRS and the BJP cadres over the distribution of money among the voters. The BJP workers prevented TRS leader P Kaushik Reddy from entering the polling booths at a couple of villages for allegedly influencing the voters.
{{/usCountry}}In the morning, there were reports of clashes between the TRS and the BJP cadres over the distribution of money among the voters. The BJP workers prevented TRS leader P Kaushik Reddy from entering the polling booths at a couple of villages for allegedly influencing the voters.
{{/usCountry}}Similarly, the TRS cadres obstructed BJP leader Tula Uma from entering some polling booths. The timely intervention of the police officials brought the situation to normal.
Goel, who inspected some of the polling stations in Kamalapur village, said the polling was largely peaceful. He said he had received as many as 88 complaints about alleged malpractices in the Huzurabad by-poll and the election observers were looking into the same. “If any of these complaints are proved true, we shall take appropriate action, even after the declaration of results,” he said.
Badvel bypoll
Meanwhile, polling in the by-elections to Badvel assembly constituency in Andhra Pradesh’s Kadapa district began on a dull note but picked up later in the afternoon.
By the closing hours, 68.12 per cent of polling was reported from 281 polling stations in the constituency, EC officials said, adding that it might go up by four to five per cent after all those who were standing in the queue cast their votes till 7 pm.
Andhra Pradesh chief electoral officer K Vijayanand said there were no incidents of any clashes or untoward incidents in the polling and everything went off peacefully. “There were troubles in three Electronic Voting Machines in the morning and they were immediately rectified,” he said.
BJP Rajya Sabha MP C M Ramesh said the ruling YSR Congress party indulged in malpractices in the polling by enrolling fake voters and impersonation. However, the CEO said there were no written complaints from anybody in this regard.
The YSRC has fielded Dasari Sudha, widow of former MLA G Venkata Subbaiah, whose sudden death in March necessitated the by-poll in Badvel. While the main opposition TDP opted out of the contest, BJP fielded its senior leader Panthala Suresh and the Congress its former MLA P M Kamalamma.