Telangana Assembly polls: Voting begins in all 119 seats, fate of 2,290 candidates to be decided

Polling in all 119 Assembly constituencies of Telangana began at 7 am on Thursday, reported ANI.

The Assembly election will decide the fate of 2,290 candidates from 109 national and regional parties. The state has 3.26 crore voters who are eligible to exercise their franchise across 35,655 polling stations.

Around 2.5 lakh government staffers will be engaged in election duties. The Election Commission has ordered all private establishments, including information technology companies, to remain closed on Thursday for citizens to vote.

The ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi is seeking a third term in Telangana, while the Opposition Congress is looking to win another southern state after Karnataka. The Bharatiya Janata Party is seeking to gain a foothold in Telangana as part of its efforts to expand its influence in southern India.

Among the key candidates in the Assembly election are Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, his son and state minister KT Rama Rao, Congress’ Telangana chief A Revanth Reddy and BJP MPs Bandi Sanjay Kumar and D Arvind.

K Chandrashekar Rao is contesting from two constituencies – his home turf Gajwel and Kamareddy. A Revanth Reddy will take on the chief minister in Kamareddy and will also contest from his home constituency of Kodangal.

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