After withdrawals by eight candidates and seven nominations being rejected, 23 candidates are left in the fray for the Warangal parliamentary by-election.
After withdrawals by eight candidates on Saturday and seven nominations being rejected the previous day, a total of 23 candidates are left in the fray for the Warangal parliamentary by-election, according to State Chief Electoral Officer Bhanwar Lal.
The seat is reserved for Scheduled Caste candidates.
Addressing mediapersons at his Secretariat chambers, Bhanwar Lal said that one candidate each from seven political parties, including the TRS, the Congress, the Telugu Desam Party - BJP combine and the YSRCP, were in the fray, besides 12 independents.
After withdrawals, those in the fray, party-wise, are:
P Dayakar (TRS)
P Devaiah (BJP-TDP combine)
Sarve Satyanarayana (Congress)
Y Suryaprakash (YSR Congress Party)
J Bhasker (Shramajivi Party)
P Ramamurthy (Dalitha Bahujana Party)
B Kranthi Kumar (Telangana Karmika Raithu Rajyam Party)
V Mallaiah (RPI)
The 14 independents are K Devadasu, G Babu, G Vinod Kumar, G Sagar, J Mahender, J Sadanandam, P Devaraju, B Srinivas, B Susheela, Y Sunil, V Ramesh, R Prem Kumar, S Johnson and G Saibaba.
He also said that during the checkings by the police in connection with the by-election, an amount of Rs 1.41 crore, a car and some liquor bottles were seized by Saturday.
"We found 471 sensitive areas in the bypoll segments, including extremist-infested Bhupalpally, and tight security will be in place," he said.
He added that 148 teams of officials would monitor the election, and 20 companies of Central paramilitary forces and State police would be working to ensure smooth voting.
Elaborate security arrangements have been made, including tight vigilance with live coverage and videography. Complaints will be received and replies will be sent in message format on the action taken.
The by-election is scheduled to be held on November 21, and voting will begin from 7 am and end at 5 pm on that day. Those who are in the polling stations by 5 pm will be allowed to exercise their franchise till late night. The counting of votes will be taken up on November 24 from 8 am.
Meanwhile, the enrolment for voter identity cards had been extended till November 16, Lal said. Those who do not have voter identity cards can enrol themselves by giving the necessary details. The people obtaining voter identity cards need pay only Rs 25 each. Lal warned officials and staff of suspension if they demanded more than that amount.