The assembly elections will be held in Telangana on November 30, the Election Commission of India (ECI) announced at a press conference on October 9. The votes will be counted on December 3.
The term of the Telangana legislative assembly with 119 seats ends on January 16, 2024. Voting will be held across a total of 35,356 polling stations in the state, with 14,464 urban polling stations and 20,892 rural ones.
Telangana has a total of 3,17,17,389 eligible voters. According to the official release from Chief Election Commissioner, Rajiv Kumar, the voter base comprises 1,58,71,493 men, 1,58,43,339 women, and 2,557 individuals identifying as the third gender. Kumar said the notifications will be issued on November 10 and the last date for filing nominations will be November 13. He also said November 15 is the last date for withdrawing candidature.
Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao-led Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) currently rules the state.
Also read: Congress’s Telangana worry: Too many Reddy leaders
KCR is considered to be the main force behind Telangana getting its statehood. State government schemes such as Rythu Bandhu and KCR Kits have earned him goodwill. However, several sitting BRS legislators are allegedly facing anti-incumbency and dissidence within the party.
Meanwhile, BJP emerged as the principal challenger to BRS after winning a few bypolls and Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation elections in the last three years. But the party has been facing internal squabble. In order to pacify the dissidents, the BJP brass had to replace Bandi Sanjay Kumar with Union Minister G Kishan Reddy as chief of the party’s state unit.
In a setback to BRS, two of its senior leaders, one MLC and a sitting legislator, left the party recently and joined Congress. According to media reports, for the Congress, with only five seats, it is a fight for survival while the BJP, with just three seats, is looking to make further inroads.
The BRS announced candidates for 115 seats on August 21. The party said it will contest on its own and that its cordial relationship with the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), which has seven seats, will continue.
The state assembly elections in 2018 was conducted in a single phase on December 7. The results were declared on December 11. K Chandrashekar Rao and party swept the polls in the state by winning 88 seats.
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