Voting was underway for 119 seats in Telangana assembly elections. The elections will decide the political fortunes of 1,821 candidates in the first full-fledged election in India''s youngest state.
Election commission made elaborate arrangements for a smooth conduct of the polling process in 32,815 polling stations. A total of 280,747,22 voters were eligible to exercise their franchise. They include 1,41,56,182 men and 1,39,05,811 women. The electorate also include 10,038 service voters and 249 overseas Indian electors.
For the first time, Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) were installed across the state. After a voter casts their vote on EVM, VVPAT attached to the machine will display for seven seconds the choice made by them.
The elections are expected to be a direct contest between the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi and the Congress-led People''s Front. The opposition alliance also includes Telugu Desam Party (TDP), Communist Party of India and Telangana Jana Samithi (TJS).
Polling was held from 7 am to 5 pm in 106 constituencies while in 13 constituencies, affected by Maoist violence, polling concluded at 4 pm. Counting of votes will be taken up on December 11.
