The stage is set for polling in all 17 Lok Sabha constituencies in Telangana on Thursday.
The ruling TRS is looking for a repeat of December’s assembly elections, even as the BJP and the Congress will be looking to spoil TRS’s outing.
In Telangana, 443 candidates (418 male and 25 female) are in the fray in the 17 constituencies.
Polling would be held from 7 am to 4 pm in 13 Left Wing Extremism (LWE)-effected Assembly segments under five parliamentary constituencies, and from 7 am to 5 pm in all other Lok Sabha constituencies.
The Nizamabad Lok Sabha constituency is a special case in this parliamentary election as 185 candidates, including more than 170 farmers, are in the fray.
The peasants have entered the fray to highlight their demand for remunerative prices for turmeric and red jowar.
Congress leader Renuka Chowdary (Khammam), AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi (Hyderabad), state Congress chief N Uttam Kumar Reddy (Nalgonda), sitting TRS MP K Kavitha (Nizamabad), daughter of TRS president K Chandrasekhar Rao, are among the prominent candidates contesting elections.
TRS leaders have repeatedly said they will be aiming to win 16 seats for the party, leaving the remaining one for AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi, who is seeking to win for the fourth time from Hyderabad.
{{/usCountry}}TRS leaders have repeatedly said they will be aiming to win 16 seats for the party, leaving the remaining one for AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi, who is seeking to win for the fourth time from Hyderabad.
{{/usCountry}}In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the TRS had bagged 11 seats, and the Congress two. The BJP, TDP, YSRCP and AIMIM shared one each. The TDP, YSRCP and one Congress Lok Sabha member later joined the TRS.
KCR and his son and party working chief KT Rama Rao campaigned vigorously, constantly attacking BJP and Congress, and accusing the two parties of having failed to deliver when in power.
KCR has claimed that if TRS wins 16 seats, it will play a key role in national politics.
Highlighting the “family rule” of KCR, Modi, during his campaign speeches, has warned that TRS’s association with Asaduddin Owaisi-led AIMIM party would mean a “speed-breaker” for Telangana’s development.
Rahul Gandhi alleged during election rallies that both the BJP and TRS have a tacit understanding and hence vote for TRS is like voting for BJP.