Counting underway in Telangana for 17 Lok Sabha seats

Amid tight security, counting of votes for 17 Lok Sabha constituencies in Telangana got underway Thursday in 126 counting halls located at 35 places across the State. In the first round of counting, postal votes and electronically transmitted postal ballot (ETPBS) have been taken up for counting and subsequently votes from Electronic Voting Machines will be counted, according to official sources. A clear picture of poll performance of the candidates including trends is expected before noon.

As many as 443 candidates from



various political parties and independents are in the fray in the polls that were held on April 11 in the first phase. The Electoral exercise was undertaken in 34,603 polling stations and 18,526 polling locations. A senior police official said elaborate security arrangements are in place at counting centres in Telangana with deployment of nearly 10,000 police personnel. The TRS has repeatedly claimed that it would sweep the polls, along with AIMIM-led by Asaduddin Owaisi, who is seeking re-election from Hyderabad.