Hyderabad: After an electrifying campaigning that bordered on the acerbic by stars of the political arena, the stage is now set for the most important star in the democratic setup – the voter – to head to the polling booth on Thursday to decide Telangana’s future.
The State will have about 3.26 crore voters lining up in front of 35,655 polling stations to choose their representatives from 2,290 candidates in 119 constituencies.
While the ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi will be looking to retain power and as many MLAs as possible from its current strength of 104 in the Assembly, its main rival is the Congress, which is looking to increase its tally from five while the BJP will be hoping to build on its existing strength of three. The AIMIM currently has seven MLAs.
The Election Commission of India’s arrangements for polling include 1.85 lakh polling personnel and 22,000 micro observers to monitor the polling process. Security will be provided by a total of 45,000 personnel from the State, 3,000 from other departments, 50 companies of Telangana State Special Police (TSSP) and 375 companies of Central Paramilitary forces. About 23,500 home guards from neighbouring States will also be on duty.
Polling will be held from 7 am to 5 pm in 106 constituencies and from 7 am to 4 pm in 13 Left Wing Extremism (LWE) affected areas. A total of 72,931 ballot units or EVMs have been arranged, out of which 59,779 will be deployed at polling stations. The rest will be kept in reserve.
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