Notification issued for Telangana Assembly election, nominations to be accepted from today

In an earlier communiqué, the chief electoral office said that the total number of voters in Telangana have gone down by nearly nine lakh to 2.73 crore for the Assembly polls.

Notification issued for Telangana Assembly election/ (AFP)

New Delhi: Nominations for the Telangana Assembly elections will be accepted from November 12 to November 19 while the date for scrutiny of papers has been fixed on November 20, as per the notification issued by the Election Commission on Monday. November 22 has been fixed as the last date for withdrawing nominations, in the notification. In an earlier communiqué, the chief electoral office said that the total number of voters in Telangana have gone down by nearly nine lakh to 2.73 crore for the Assembly polls. There would be more than 32,574 polling stations in the state and few more may be set up depending on the number of voters. Telangana Assembly elections are scheduled to be held on December 7 and counting is to be held on December 11. Telangana Assembly was dissolved on September 6 at the behest of K Chandrashekhar Rao- led TRS government. The dissolution of the assembly came some eight months before the expiry of its term. On Friday the Election Commission on Friday imposed a near month-long ban on holding exit polls beginning November 12 in the five poll-bound states including Telangana. Caretaker Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao is expected to file his nomination from Gajwel constituency in Medak district on November 14 . The TRS has already announced its candidates for 107 segments, including 105 at one go within minutes of the Assembly dissolution, giving it a jump-start to the campaign and stunning the opposition. The main opposition Congress forged an electoral pact with the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) headed by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, the Telangana Jana Samiti (TJS) founded by retired Osmania University Political Science Professor Kodandaram and the Communist Party of India. However,  the "Grand Alliance” comprising  Congress , Telugu Desam Party , Telangana Jana Samiti and the Communist Party of India of  is yet to announce the list of the contesting candidates. BJP had so far announced 66 nominees in two tranches.