E-Paper
23 million people cast vote as Telangana polling concludes
Around 23 million people voted in Telangana's state elections, recording a poll percentage of 70.60%. The final turnout numbers could reach 73.74%.
Around 23 million people voted across 119 constituencies in Telangana on Thursday as the southern state recorded a poll percentage of 70.60% by 11 pm.
Election Commission authorities said that thousands of people continued to stand in queues well past the deadline of 5pm, and that the final turnout numbers could well inch closer to the figure of 73.74% five years ago
Telangana chief electoral officer (CEO) Vikas Raj said barring minor clashes and skirmishes, the polling was by-and-large peaceful and there were no recommendations from the returning officers for repolling in any booths. The counting of votes will be conducted on December 3.
Follow Telangana Election Results 2023 LIVE Updates Here.
Maximum polling of 83.34% was recorded at Jangaon, followed by 83% at Narasampet, 82.75% at Dubbak, 82.34% at Nakrekal, 81.23% at Palakurthy and 81.04 at Bhongir.
Hyderabad recorded a dismal voting percentage of around 39.97%, with Yakutpura recording 27.87%, Nampally 32.40%, Charminar 34.02% and Malakpet 36.90%.
Even assembly constituencies such as Jubilee Hills, Serilingampally and Khairtabad – which cover upscale areas and Information Technology hubs – in addition to high population density areas such as Kukatpally, Rajendranagar, Sanathnagar and Secunderabad recorded lukewarm polling of around 40-45%.
In all, 32.6 million voters were enrolled and 35,655 polling stations were set up across the state.
As many as 2,290 contestants are in the fray including chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao from two constituencies – Kamareddy and Gajwel, his minister-son K T Rama Rao from Siricilla, Telangana Congress unit chief A Revanth Reddy from Kamareddy and Kodangal, senior BJP leader Eatala Rajender from Gajwel and Huzurabad, and BJP Lok Sabha member Bandi Sanjay Kumar from Karimnagar.
The CEO said a few incidents of clashes were reported from Kamareddy, Narasapur, Yakutpura, Narayanpet and Sirpur. The police resorted to lathicharge at Pinapaka to disperse the Congress and the Bharat Rashtra Samithi workers who were involved in clashes.
At Narasapur, Congress workers allegedly attacked the BRS leaders led by party candidate Sunitha Laxma Reddy’s son Shashidhar Reddy and damaged his vehicles. The police booked the Congress leaders.
At Yakutpura in the old city of Hyderabad, there were minor clashes between the workers of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen and Majlis-Bachao Tehreek (MBT), but the police quickly brought the situation under control.
At Varkoor village of Makthal constituency in Narayanpet, the Congress and the BRS workers clashed, but the police restored normalcy within an hour.
The BRS is looking for a third consecutive term in India’s youngest state but is facing a tough challenge from the Congress in a triangular contest also involving the Bharatiya Janata Party.
