Telangana recorded 60.57 per cent voting till fivepm across 17 Lok Sabha constituencies of the State where former Union minister Renuka Chowdhury and AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi are among prominent candidates in the fray.
Medakrecorded highest number of voter turnout with 68.60 per cent while Secunderabad from where senior BJP leader Kishan Reddy registered just 39.20 per cent polling till five pm.
Telangana Chief Electoral Officer Rajat Kumarhad earlier said those who stand in queue at 5 pm will also be allowed to vote.
Telangana and Andhra Pradesh Governor E S L Narasimhan, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, TRS Working President KT Rama Rao, K Kavitha and Asaduddin Owaisi and film actors Chiranjeevi, Ram Charan, Allu Arjun, junior NTR and 'Baahubali' director SS Rajamouli were among the prominent people who cast their vote in their respective constituencies.
KCR, along with his wife cast his vote in Chintamadaka village in Siddipet district.
"Polling process is going on peacefully across Telangana," Rajat Kumar said.
A polling booth in Teeleru Village in Narayanpet district where ten women labourers were buried alive when loose soil and boulders fell on them Wednesday, wore a deserted look, according to reports.
A senior Narayanpet district official told PTI that there was lukewarm response for polling in Teeleru.
Key candidates in the fray include Telangana Rashtra Samiti President and Chief Minister Chandrasekhar Rao's daughter K Kavitha, Renuka Chowdhury, State Congress chief Uttam Kumar Reddy, Congress working president Revanth Reddy and Asaduddin Owaisi.
Telangana BJP chief spokesperson Krishna Saagar Rao alleged that the Election Commission has fallen short of expectations in conduct of elections in Telangana.
"In Telangana, there are several instances of EVMs not working," he claimed.
Teams deployed to fix the EVMs when they were not functional should have been technically more efficient, Rao said, adding, at many places, even though there were three EVMs in a booth, only one or two were functioning.
"They should have been technically more prepared," he said.
Apollo Hospitals Group Executive Vice Chairperson Shobana Kamineni Thursday said her name was missing in the voters' list and described it as "worst day as an Indian citizen."
Rajat Kumar said as per the information he received from Narayanpet district collector large number of people are participating in the funeral of the deceased and polling is expected to pick up momentum later.
The official said 1.51 per cent of ballot units, 1.71 per cent of control units and 2.21 per cent of VVPATs were replaced during the mock polling before beginning of the actual polls in the morning.
Polling in 16 constituencies began at 7 am, while voting process in Nizamabad started an hour later.
Over 2.97 crore voters are eligible to exercise their franchise in the State, where 443 candidates are in the fray.
In 13 Left Wing Extremism (LWE)-effected Assembly segments under five parliamentary constituencies polling is being held from 7 am to 4 pm.
In Nizamabad Lok Sabha constituency, where 185 candidates, including more than 170 farmers, are in the fray, voting began from 8 am, as planned, as mock polling took more time compared to other constituencies in view of the large number of candidates and EVMs.
The contesting farmers are seeking to highlight their demand for remunerative price to turmeric and red jowar, and setting up of a Turmeric Board based in Nizamabad.
Nizamabad witnessed 54.20per cent voter turnout till fivepm.
As many as 145 companies of central paramilitary forces, besides over 55,000 state police have been deployed for security arrangements in the State.
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