 "Polling peaceful in Telangana")
Barring a few minor incidents, the polling held in 17 Lok Sabha and 119 Assembly constituencies of the Telangana region on Wednesday went off peacefully.
Brisk voting was reported in several districts such as Mahabubnagar, Warangal and Khammam where voter turnout touched 50 per cent by 1 pm. Voters were able to escape the scorching heat as cloudy weather helped cool the day temperatures in several parts of the region.
According to information reaching here, 68 per cent voters had cast their votes till 5 pm — that is one hour before the closure of the polling time. Going by the trend, the final figures are expected to push the overall polling to 75-80 per cent, according to the authorities. This could mean a marginally higher poll percentage compared with the general elections held in 2009. However, chief electoral officer Banwarlal said the voter turnout could be around 72 per cent.
While these two districts reported 53 and 58 per cent polling respectively by 5 pm as compared with between 67 per cent and 75 per cent reported from the remaining 8 districts. Medak (75 per cent), Warangal (74 per cent), and Khammam (75 per cent) districts were ahead in voter turnout.
The triangular and multi-corner contests kept the candidates of all the major parties on tenterhooks leading to brief skirmishes between the followers of rival candidates in some places. No untoward incidents were reported from areas categorised as sensitive mainly owing to the presence of left wing extremism.
In the Gajwel Assembly constituency police restrained the movement of Telugu Desam (TDP) candidate Pratap Reddy after the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) complained he was trying to influence voters with money and liquor. The allegation was promptly denied by the TDP candidate. Interestingly, TRS president K Chandrasekhara Rao himself is contesting from this seat.
Similarly, some candidates and their followers in the Malkajgiri Lok Sabha constituency and some Assembly segments falling in this constituency were also seen entering into verbal duels with their rivals when they visited the polling booths as the polling progressed.
The Congress and the TRS had fielded their candidates in almost all the constituencies leaving just a few seats to their minor electoral partner the CPI while the TDP and the BJP made seat adjustments between themselves. The MIM, YSR Congress, CPI(M) and others like the BSP fielded candidates in limited number of seats in the region.
Brisk voting was reported in several districts such as Mahabubnagar, Warangal and Khammam where voter turnout touched 50 per cent by 1 pm. Voters were able to escape the scorching heat as cloudy weather helped cool the day temperatures in several parts of the region.
According to information reaching here, 68 per cent voters had cast their votes till 5 pm — that is one hour before the closure of the polling time. Going by the trend, the final figures are expected to push the overall polling to 75-80 per cent, according to the authorities. This could mean a marginally higher poll percentage compared with the general elections held in 2009. However, chief electoral officer Banwarlal said the voter turnout could be around 72 per cent.
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Till 5 pm, according to information available, Hyderabad and Rangareddy districts, which comprise almost one-third of the total electorate (9.31 million out of 28.16 million voters) in the region, dragged down the overall poll percentage.
While these two districts reported 53 and 58 per cent polling respectively by 5 pm as compared with between 67 per cent and 75 per cent reported from the remaining 8 districts. Medak (75 per cent), Warangal (74 per cent), and Khammam (75 per cent) districts were ahead in voter turnout.
The triangular and multi-corner contests kept the candidates of all the major parties on tenterhooks leading to brief skirmishes between the followers of rival candidates in some places. No untoward incidents were reported from areas categorised as sensitive mainly owing to the presence of left wing extremism.
In the Gajwel Assembly constituency police restrained the movement of Telugu Desam (TDP) candidate Pratap Reddy after the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) complained he was trying to influence voters with money and liquor. The allegation was promptly denied by the TDP candidate. Interestingly, TRS president K Chandrasekhara Rao himself is contesting from this seat.
Similarly, some candidates and their followers in the Malkajgiri Lok Sabha constituency and some Assembly segments falling in this constituency were also seen entering into verbal duels with their rivals when they visited the polling booths as the polling progressed.
The Congress and the TRS had fielded their candidates in almost all the constituencies leaving just a few seats to their minor electoral partner the CPI while the TDP and the BJP made seat adjustments between themselves. The MIM, YSR Congress, CPI(M) and others like the BSP fielded candidates in limited number of seats in the region.