Poll battle on as filing of nominations begins for 17 LS seats in Telangana

Hyderabad, Apr 18 (PTI) Filing of nominations in Telangana for the Lok Sabha polls began on Thursday as the Election Commission issued the notification kickstarting the election process.
Polling for all 17 Lok Sabha constituencies and the Secunderabad Cantonment assembly segment in Telangana would be held on May 13, and counting of votes nationwide would be taken up on June 4.




Over 3.31 crore voters are expected to exercise their franchise in 35,356 polling stations across the state.

Filing of nominations will be accepted from April 18 till April 25 and the last date for withdrawal is April 29.




BJP candidates Eatala Rajender and D K Aruna filed their nominations on the first day. A rally was held, in which Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri and Telangana BJP president G Kishan Reddy, who is also a union minister, took part before Rajender submitted his nomination as the party candidate from Malkajgiri constituency.




Kishan Reddy and the party’s National General Secretary Bandi Sanjay Kumar are also among candidates of the saffron party, while the Congress is fielding, among others, BRS turncoats Danam Nagender and K Kavya.



AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi is seeking re-election from the party's bastion, Hyderabad Lok Sabha constituency, where the BJP has fielded political novice K Madhavi Latha, who, however, is an enthusiastic candidate and has begun a spirited campaign.



Former IPS officer R S Praveen Kumar and current MP Nama Nageswar Rao are in the fray from the BRS party, which is led by former chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao.



While the BJP and BRS have already announced their candidates for 17 Lok Sabha constituencies in the state, Congress has named its nominees to 14 so far.



The Lok Sabha election is crucial especially for the BRS which is facing an existential crisis of sorts following its unexpected defeat in the assembly elections held in November last year and the subsequent desertion of several of its leaders.



The election is also significant for Chief Minister Revanth Reddy as his position will be consolidated if the party manages to win more seats than last time.



In the 2019 general elections, BRS (then TRS) won nine seats, BJP four, Congress three and AIMIM one.



Addressing a press conference, Chief Electoral Officer Vikas Raj said nearly three lakh staff will be deployed for poll duties.




“In addition to that, about 20,000 police personnel are coming from some of the neighbouring states on a bilateral arrangement basis. 60,000 police and other uniform staff are being requested and will be deployed for maintenance of security,” he said adding that 160 companies of central police forces have also been requested while 60 have already reached the state.




The CEO said a bank account should be opened by the contesting candidates for election expenditure, a day before the nomination is filed.




As many as 57,048 Ballot Units and 44,569 Control Units 48,134 VVPATs are required for the Lok Sabha polls including some margins, he said.




There are 19 enforcement agencies in Telangana, including those of the state and the Centre, he said, adding that district intelligence committees have also been formed.




“Based on our experience in the last assembly elections, 51 assembly segments have been identified as expenditure sensitive segments,” the official said.




As of today cash or goods worth Rs 136.70 crore have been seized since the Model Code of Conduct came into force on March 16. Over 4,000 FIRs have been registered so far under the violation of MCC or IPC or Excise Acts, the CEO said.




In areas affected by LWE (Left Wing Extremism), central forces have already been deployed, he said.




Nine police observers, 17 general observers and 34 expenditure observers will be deployed in the state, he added.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)