Telangana’s ruling party, Congress, took an early lead as the count of votes across 116 municipalities and seven municipal corporations began on Friday.
The election on Wednesday saw a turnout of 73.01 per cent of voters according to the state’s election commission. The election was a three-way contest between the Congress, BRS and BJP.
About 10,719 candidates are contesting in as many as 2,569 wards across 116 municipalities, while 2,225 candidates are contesting in 412 wards in the seven municipal corporations.
People’s Pulse Exit poll had predicted that the ruling Congress is set to win nearly 70 per cent of the 116 municipalities.
The survey suggested a strong performance by the party in municipal corporations of Mancherial, Ramagundam, Nalgonda, Mahabubnagar and Kothagudem.
Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), however, was predicted to be unlikely to win in a single municipal corporation.
As of now, the Congress has taken the lead over both BRS and the BJP.
Congress is currently ahead in 876 wards out of the 1615 wards where counting trends were available in the 116 municipalities, while the BRS is leading in about 462 wards.
The BJP is ahead in 138 wards as per early trends.
Out of the 116 municipalities, the congress has taken the lead in 24 of them.
The INC is leading in 10 wards in the Mancherial Municipal Corporation, while BRS is leading in 6 wards, and BJP is leading in 4 wards.
In the Mahbubnagar district, the Congress secured 6 wards. had taken an early lead in the two municipalities.
The Congress Party has won 8 of 60 divisions in Ramagundam Municipal Corporation while the BRS registered 2 wins.
The party also won 8 divisions in the Nalgonda Municipal Corporation out of 48, and the BRS secured victories in 5.
Ballot papers were used in the election, and the counting is expected to take time.
