Polling for Telangana Assembly elections is progressing at a brisk pace and top politicians including Telangana Chief Minister Chandrashekar Rao, K.T. Rama Rao, Congress leader Revanth Reddy, Union Minister G. Kishan Reddy have cast their votes. Celebrities like Allu Arjun, Chiranjeevi, Jr.NTR also exercised their franchise.
According to reports, till 11am, 20.64 per cent of votes have been polled and voters are queuing up in good numbers at polling stations across the state. Chief Minister K, Chandrasekhar Rao, who is contesting from two seats - Gajwel and Kamareddy, exercised his franchise along with his wife K. Shobha in Chinramadaka village in Siddipet district.
Union Minister and state BJP president G. Kishan Reddy, BRS Working President Rama Rao, his sister and party MLC K. Kavitha and AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi were among the early voters in this election. Film personalities also cast their votes during the early hours. State Congress president and MP A. Revanth Reddy cast his vote in the Kodangal assembly segment from where he is contesting.
Expressing hope that BRS would form government for the third time in the state, Rama Rao tweeted, “Getting reports from all over the state...Car in Top Gear... Jai Telangana.”
A minor scuffle broke out at a polling booth in the Jangaon Assembly constituency and members of all three leading parties – Congress, BJP and BRS were involved. Police personnel deployed at the booth brought the situation under control. Polling also got affected for 45 minutes at a booth in Kamareddy assembly constituency reportedly due to a malfunction of the electronic voting machine. Voting resumed later.
Political leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge urged the public to exercise their franchise. “call upon my brothers and sisters in Telangana to vote in record numbers and strengthen the festival of democracy. I especially urge the youth, especially first-time voters, to exercise their right to vote,” tweeted Modi.
Union Minister Amit Shah tweeted, “Only a corruption-free and pro-poor government can work selflessly for the prosperity of Telangana. I appeal to the people of Telangana to come out in large numbers to form a government for which the priority is empowerment, not appeasement.”
“No force on earth can stop an idea whose time has come”, tweeted Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge urging the people of Telangana, especially first-time voters to exercise their franchise.
