Published May 14, 2024 | 10:12 AM ⚊ Updated May 14, 2024 | 10:12 AM
Polling officials prepare to welcome voters to a polling station at Kasipeta in Telangana. (CEOTelangana/X)
Telangana has reported 64.93 percent voter turnout in the elections for 17 Lok Sabha seats in the state which went off peacefully on Monday, 13 May, official sources said on Tuesday, 14 May.
Bhongir witnessed the highest turnout at 76.47 percent while Hyderabad logged 46.08 percent, according to the Election Commission statistics.
The state recorded 62.77 percent voter turnout in the 2019 general elections.
The polling was held from 7 AM to 6 PM, except for Left Wing Extremism-affected constituencies where the process concluded by 4 pm.
The polling process in Telangana was peaceful, DGP Ravi Gupta said in a release. Notably, polling in Naxal-affected areas concluded without any incident by 4 pm, he said.
State Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Vikas Raj said the response from voters was good.
“We have got very good response right from morning. The weather was also supportive. So we had a good turnout. There was no problem on the law order side also,” Vikas Raj told reporters.
Out of the total 35,809 polling stations, voting was going on in about 1,400 booths at 6 pm.
As many as 625 candidates, including Union Minister and Telangana BJP president G Kishan Reddy, the party’s national general secretary Bandi Sanjay Kumar and senior leader Etala Rajender are among the saffron party candidates, while the Congress fielded among others, BRS turncoats Danam Nagender and K Kavya.
AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi is seeking re-election from the party’s bastion of Hyderabad Lok Sabha constituency and the BJP has fielded a political novice but enthusiastic K Madhavi Latha who has begun a spirited campaign.
The former IPS officer RS Praveen Kumar and sitting MP Nama Nageswar Rao, among others, who contested from former Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao-led BRS.
The CEO also said 38 FIRs were filed today for various reasons.
The Collector of Hyderabad district said on ‘X’ that a case is registered in Malakpet Police Station against BJP candidate Madhavi Latha, under different sections of the IPC and the Representation of the People Act.
A case is registered in Malakpet Police Station against Smt Madhavi Latha, Contesting candidate, BJP under sections 171C, 186, 505(1)(c) of IPC and Section 132 of the Representation of the People Act
— Collector Hyderabad (@Collector_HYD) May 13, 2024
This follows an allegation that Latha checked the identity of a burqa-clad woman voters by asking them to show their faces.
Meanwhile, Madhavi Latha, alleged that a polling booth in Riyasat Nagar was locked and that “rigging” was taking place.
Despite being requested, the police did not open the gate, she claimed in a video posted by BJP Telangana on X. “Rigging is going on inside,” said Madhavi Latha, who is taking on AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi in Hyderabad LS constituency.
She alleged that some “goons” tried to intimidate her in some areas, adding that she, however, can never be scared.
Day light rigging by Owaisi and his henchmen caught on camera! Police are mute spectators in the interiors of Old City.
Desperation is clear. pic.twitter.com/P0LMmCVqw5
— BJP Telangana (@BJP4Telangana) May 13, 2024
However, the BJP is winning in the Hyderabad parliamentary seat, she asserted.
Former Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu, Haryana Governor Bandaru Dattatreya, his Tripura counterpart N Indrasena Reddy, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, Union Minister and Telangana BJP president G Kishan Reddy, former CM K Chandrasekhar Rao and AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi were among senior leaders who cast their vote in Telangana.
Several film personalities, including Chiranjeevi, Mahesh Babu, Ram Charan, Allu Arjun, Junior NTR and ace director SS Rajamouli of ‘RRR’ fame, also exercised their franchise in Hyderabad.
Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, who cast his vote in his Assembly constituency of Kodangal in Vikarabad district, alleged that the BJP is trying to “polarise Muslim votes to make (AIMIM’s) Asaduddin Owaisi win”.
He also alleged that the BJP is misusing central agencies for electoral benefit.
On the case registered by Delhi police in connection with a doctored video of Union Home Minister Amit Shah on social media, he wondered how the Delhi police could issue notices to him when he was not aware of its content.
Referring to leaders, including Ajit Pawar, Kumaraswamy and others of JD(S) joining hands with BJP, he claimed that PM Modi does not have the moral right to talk about corruption.
Referring to Modi’s allegation that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was not talking about ‘Adani-Ambani’, he said the PM can send ED, IT and CBI to “raid Adani-Ambani residence and office places”.
“When they are sending truck loads of money to the Congress party, why are you not taking action against Adani – Ambani?” he asked.
The BJP complained to the Chief Electoral Officer alleging that Revanth Reddy conducted a press conference after casting his vote and levelled certain allegations against the saffron party in violation of the Model Code of Conduct.
Speaking to reporters, Kishan Reddy said on Tuesday that the BJP has got a positive response from people in the Lok Sabha polls. Though voter turnout was low in urban areas, the polled votes were in favour of the BJP, he claimed.
There were several reasons for the low voting, he said.
There were several reasons for the low voting, including many voters going to neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, he added.
Meanwhile, polling was also held in Secunderabad Cantonment assembly constituency in Hyderabad. The by-poll witnessed an approximate voter turnout of 48 percent.
The final polling percentage would be known later, an official release said.
The by-election was necessitated due to the death of sitting BRS MLA G Lasya Nanditha in a road accident a few months ago.
(Disclaimer: The headline, subheads, and intro of this report along with the photos may have been reworked by South First. The rest of the content is from a syndicated feed, and has been edited for style.)
