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The election authorities have made arrangements for live web-casting at 1,140 out of the total 1,837 polling stations in the Medak Lok Sabha constituency in Telangana and at 129 out of 200 polling stations in the Nandigama Assembly segment in AP.
Chief electoral officer Bhanwar Lal today said all the candidates had been given user ID and password to access the live web-casting on the Internet — normally used by the election authorities to keep a watch on any polling-related malpractices.
Byelections to Medak were announced following the resignation of K Chandrasekhara Rao from the Lok Sabha seat as he chose to retain the Assembly seat to form the TRS government. The Nandigama seat fell vacant after Tangirala Prabhakar Rao, who won the seat on a TDP ticket, died even before taking oath in the Assembly.
The issue of by-election to the Allagadda Assembly constituency in Kurnool district of AP is being heard by the High Court where the election was conducted in peculiar circumstances. Though YSR Congress candidate Shobha Nagi Reddy died in a road accident before the polling, her name had to be retained as there was no provision to postpone the election since the YSRCP had not received the status of a recognised political party.
The by-elections are not expected to throw any surprises. The lectoral outcomes in both the constituencies are likely to go in favour of the ruling party candidates in respective states, according to the reports. In Medak, the BJP has fielded Jagga Reddy, a former Congress MLA from the Sangareddy Assembly segment against TRS candidate K Prabhakar Reddy.
On the other hand, Congress party has fielded former minister Sunitha Laxma Reddy, who hails from the same district. Jagga Reddy, a known opponent to the state bifurcation, is highly unlikely to make it to the top-two positions in terms of votes, observers say.
In Nandigama, Tangirala Soumya, daughter of the deceased MLA has been fighting on the TDP ticket in a straight contest with Congress candidate Bodapati Prabhakar Rao. YSR Congress party stayed away from the contest on grounds of supporting the family of the deceased MLA.
Chief election officer Bhanwar Lal said 95% of the voters were served with photo voter slips at their houses and those who do not carry voter slips can utilise their voting right by producing other identity proofs.
