Telangana Polls: 51.89% Voter Turnout At 3 PM As Polling Enters Final Phase

A voter turnout of 51.89 per cent was recorded at 3 pm in Telangana, according to Election Commission of India.

At 3 pm, the voter turnout in Telangana was recorded at 51.89 per cent as the polling was underway on 119 assembly constituencies across the state. The polling began at 7 am and will continue till 5 pm on 106 seats while 13 seats affected by Left Wing Extremism (LWE) will see the polling conclude at 4 pm. 

According to the Election Commission of India, the polling in Telangana opened at a slow pace with 8.52 per cent voter turnout recorded till 9 am. By 11 am, the voting picked up and the poll percentage surged to 20.64 per cent which further increased to 36.68 per cent till 1 pm. 

Around 3.26 crore registered voters are casting their votes at 35,655 polling stations across the country sealing that fate of 2,990 candidates in fray. 

During the course of polling, Telangana Bharatiya Janata Party president and Union minsiter G Kishan Reddy wrote a letter to the Election Commission of India alleging that the candidates and workers of ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi were involved in "electoral malpractices".

In his letter, Reddy alleged that BRS workers were moving in groups of 100-200 people around polling stations and the police were not taking action on the same.  

"Police and other officials, instead of taking action against such incidents, they are allowing the BRS workers to attack the BJP workers," the letter read. 

He also mentioned the incident that took place at Janagaon assembly

when the BRS candidate was moving with huge number of supporters, the same was objected and the Police remained as mute spectators and facilitated the ruling party workers in moving around the polling stations along with huge number of workers.

 Earlier in the day a scuffle broke out between a group of workers from Congress and the BJP at a polilng station in Jangaon. 

The ruling BRS has nominated candidates on all 119 seats while BJP and actor Pawan Kalyan's Jana Sena are contesting on 111 and 8 seats respectively as per a seat sharing agreement. 

Congress will try its luck on 118 seats and has given one seat to ally Communist Party of India while Asaduddin Owaisi-led All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen is contesting in nine segments in Hyderabad.