HYDERABAD: Polling is underway during a tight-security by-election for the Munugode Assembly seat in Telangana, on Thursday. The voting procedure started at 7 a.m. and will last until 6 p.m. at each of the 298 polling locations in the Nalgonda district constituency.
47 candidates' political futures will be decided by more than 2.41 lakh eligible voters, half of them are women. In most polling places, the voting process got off to a slow start. Later throughout the day, authorities and political parties anticipate it to congregate.
CEO Vikas Raj stated that webcasting from all polling places was being used to monitor the voting process. 1,492 poll workers have been sent to ensure a smooth election process. 199 micro observers have also been sent out by the election officials. To ensure a peaceful, free, and fair election, as many as 3,366 state police officers and 15 companies of central troops have been mobilised. Authorities paid particular attention to 105 polling places that had been designated as crucial.
New EPIC cards with six security elements, including a hologram, have been distributed for the first time by the Election Commission of India (ECI). There are a total of 47 candidates running, although the TRS, BJP, and Congress are the three primary contenders.
After sitting MLA Komatireddy Rajagopal Reddy left the Congress in August to join the BJP, a byelection was required. Reddy is presently running for office on the BJP platform.
The TRS has fielded the Ex-MLA Kusukuntla Prabhakar Reddy, who had lost to Rajagopal Reddy in 2018. Palvai Sravanthi Reddy, the daughter of former MP Palvai Goverdhan Reddy, has been nominated by the Congress. Political parties are blaming one another for handing out cash, alcohol, and even gold to entice voters in what is being called the most expensive by-election in the nation. The allegations of corruption dominated the high-voltage campaigns.
Rajagopal Reddy was the focus of both TRS and Congress because he left the Congress and joined the BJP in protest over a Rs 18,000 crore contract given to his family-owned business by the BJP-led government at the Center.
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