Telangana recorded a voter turnout of 8.52 per cent during the first two hours of voting at 9 am, according to the data shared by the Election Commission of India. The polling began at 7 am on all the 119 constituencies across the state. A total of 3.26 crore registered voters will seal the fate of 2,990 candidates across 35,655 polling stations across the state.
Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao is vying a consecutive third term in the youngest state of India while Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party are giving a tough fight to KCR's hat-trick ambition.
Union minister G Kishan Reddy, Bharat Rashtra Samithi MLC K Kavitha, Cricketer-turned-politician and Congress candidate from Jubilee Hills Mohammad Azharuddin, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen chief Asaduddin Owaisi, state Congress President Revanth Reddy were seen at polling stations casting their votes.
Telugu superstars Allu Arjun, Jr NTR, Chiranjeevi, Oscar-winning music composer MM Keravani also marked their presence at their designated polling stations to exercise their franchise.
Voting was halted at a polling station in Kamareddy constituency due to malfunctioning of the electonic voting machine.
As the polling began at 7 am across all the polling stations across the country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi called upon the people of Telangana to use their franchise.
"I call upon my sisters and brothers of Telangana to vote in record numbers and strengthen the festival of democracy. I particularly urge young and first time voters to exercise their franchise," he said in a post on X.
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More than 77,000 personnel of the security forces including state police and Home Guards drawn from the state and neighbouring states and 375 companies of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) have been deployed to ensure smooth conduct of the polls.
The voting will continue till 5 pm but will conclude at 4 pm in 13 Left Wing Extremism (LWE) affected seats of the state.