Telangana, following Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, and Mizoram, was the final state to participate in the current round of elections, viewed as a prelude to the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
The Assembly polls in Telangana were held on November 30 from 7 am to 5 pm and saw 2,290 candidates from 109 national and regional parties in the fray. This included 221 women and one transgender candidate. Of all the candidates, 103 legislators re-contested in the elections held on Thursday. While 35,655 polling stations were set up across the state to cater to a total of 3.17 crore voters, the turnout in the state was recorded to be 63.9% [till 5 pm].
This time around, the candidate list included names such as the incumbent Chief Minister of Telangana and Bharat Rashtra Samithi [BRS] head K Chandrasekhar Rao [KCR], his son Minister of IT of Telangana KT Rama Rao [KTR], TPCC president A Revanth Reddy as well as BJP Lok Sabha members Bandi Sanjay Kumar, among others.
KCR is participating in the electoral race in two constituencies, Gajwel and Kamareddy. It may be noted that KCR had secured a victory in Gajwel in 2018. by over 58,000 votes. KTR, who is currently running for the Sircilla seat, had won the same seat by over 89,000 votes in the last election.
TPCC's Revanth Reddy is contesting in Kodangal and Kamareddy. BJP has nominated its MLA, Etala Rajender, for the Gajwel constituency, and he is also the candidate for Huzurabad, where he currently serves as the incumbent legislator. As part of BJP's campaign. Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed a dozen meetings during the campaign period, in addition to a roadshow in Telangana's capital Hyderabad, days before the election.
In the 2018 elections, the Telangana Rashtra Samithi [TRS - now Bharat Rashtra Samithi] emerged victorious by capturing 88 seats. The Congress secured the second position with 19 seats, while the Telugu Desam Party [TDP] managed to win only two seats. The Bharatiya Janata Party [BJP] secured one seat, the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen [AIMIM] claimed seven seats and independent candidates secured one seat.
The counting of votes will be taken up on December 3.
