Telangana MLC Elections voting underway, K T Rama Rao, Mahmood Ali casts votes

Polling is underway on Sunday in the keenly-contested elections to Telangana Legislative Council from two Graduates’ constituencies where former prime minister P V Narasimha Rao’s daughter S Vani Devi fielded by the TRS and 163 other candidates are testing their fortunes.

Voting began at 8 AM and would continue till 4 PM for the Mahabubnagar-Rangareddy-Hyderabad and Warangal Khammam-Nalgonda Graduates’ constituencies which witnessed intense campaign by the ruling TRS, BJP, Congress and others.

The TRS is keen to win the two seats following unexpected setbacks in the Dubbak assembly bypoll and Hyderabad civic polls late last year and deployed ministers,



MPs and other leaders for campaigning. BJP had won the Dubbak seat besides bagging significant number of wards in the city polls.

As many as 93 candidates, including Vani Devi, are in the fray in Mahabubnagar-Rangareddy-Hyderabad constituency, while 71 nominees are contesting in Warangal-Khammam-Nalgonda.

Jumbo ballot boxes and big-sized ballot papers are being used for the polling in view of the large number of candidates in fray.

Over 10 lakh graduates are eligible to exercise their franchise in preferential method at 1,530 polling stations.

TRS working president and minister K T Rama Rao, Home Minister Mahmood Ali were among the early voters.