Over 3.17 crore voters are eligible to cast their votes in Telangana as the stage is set for the polling in all 17 Lok Sabha constituencies on May 13. Polling will also be held for the by-election of the Secunderabad Cantonment Assembly constituency in Hyderabad.
Polling will be held from 7 AM to 6 PM in 106 Assembly segments. The polling hours were earlier fixed at 7 AM to 5 PM. Following representations made by the political parties and considering the heat wave conditions, the Election Commission on May 1 announced the decision to extend it by one hour. However, in 13 Left Wing Extremism (LWE) affected segments under five Lob Sabha constituencies the polling will conclude at 4 PM.
The Election Commission has made arrangements for the peaceful and smooth conduct of the elections. A total of 35,809 polling stations have been set up across the state. A total of 2. 94 lakh personnel including nearly a lakh security personnel will be on poll duty. About 1.96 lakh polling personnel will be on duty across the state. There will be 3,522 sector officers and route officers. The poll panel has also appointed 12,909 micro-observers.
Sharing details of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Vikas Raj said that 1,05,019 Balloting Units (Bus) have been arranged. A total of 44,569 control units (CUs) and 48,134 VVPATs have also been deployed. He added that three ECIL engineers have been assigned to each Assembly segment to attend to the complaints of malfunctioning of the EVMs. After collecting the polling material from distribution centres, the staff will reach their respective polling stations by Sunday evening.
As part of the massive security arrangements for the polling, said that 160 companies of central forces have been deployed.The CEO said 72,000 personnel from Telangana, 20,000 personnel drawn from the neighbouring states and 4, 000 personnel of other uniformed services will be deployed.
A total of 3,17,17,389 voters are eligible to exercise their franchise across the state. They comprise 1,58,71,493 men, 1,58,43,339 women and 2,557 third gender.
The CEO said that more than 1.88 lakh employees on poll duty have used postal ballot voting and 20,163 voters have availed the facility of home voting.
As many as 525 candidates are in the fray for all Lok Sabha seats in the state, which is witnessing a three-cornered contest among ruling Congress and opposition BRS and BJP. Secunderabad constituency has a maximum number of candidates at 45. A total of 44 candidates are in the fray in Medak, followed by 43 in Chevella and 42 each in Peddapalle (SC) and Warangal (SC) constituencies. There are only 12 candidates in the Adilabad (ST) constituency.
Ever since the Model Code of Conduct came into force, authorities have filed 8,600 for its violations. The enforcement agencies have seized cash and other freebies worth Rs. 320.84 crores
Telangana had recorded a turnout of 71.34 per cent during the Assembly elections held in November 2023. In the 2018 Assembly elections, 73.73 per cent of voters had cast their votes. However, in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the turnout dropped to 62.11 per cent.
In the 2019 elections, BRS had won nine seats while BJP had bagged four seats. Congress could win three seats while AIMIM had retained the lone seat.