Telangana goes to polls today in its toughest election since formation in 2014

Over 3.26 crore voters will decide the future of 2,290 candidates testing their luck.

In what may be the toughest battle that Telangana will see since its formation in 2014, the ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and the Congress are locked in a keen contest for which elections will be held on Thursday from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will be the third major player in the elections to the 119-seat Assembly, looking at creating a situation where they could be the deciding factor. The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Communist Party of India (CPI) and Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) are the other players.

Over 3.26 crore voters will decide the future of 2,290 candidates testing their luck. The Election Commission authorities have made arrangements for smooth polling with over 1.85 lakh personnel deployed for the 35,655 polling stations. Over 22,000 observers will oversee the polling process.

As per the figures released by the State election authorities, a total of 3,26,02,799 voters will exercise their franchise. Of the registered voters, 1,62,98,418 are men and 1,63,01,705 are women. As many as 2,676 transgender persons are registered. The first-time voters in the age group of 18 to 19 years are 9,99,667.

Police forces drawn from the State police department, including 45,000 from the regular police force and 50 companies of the Telangana State Special Police, will be deployed for smooth conduct of polls. Assisting them would be 375 paramilitary companies. Services of about 23,500 home guards from the neighbouring States will also be utilised.

While the polling will be held from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. across the State, in about 13 constituencies affected by Left-wing extremism, the polling will end at 4 p.m. Staff deployed for the polling left for their allotted constituencies and stations on Wednesday morning. The presiding officers were handed over the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and the VVPATs for the purpose.

Officials said 72,931 EVMs (ballot units) are arranged and of those, 59,779 will be used at polling stations and the remaining are kept in reserve for emergencies.