Elections in two of Telangana's graduates' constituencies, Warangal-Nalgonda-Khammam and Hyderabad-Mahabubnagar-Rangareddy, were held today. Polling commenced at 8:00 am and was wound up by 4:00 pm.
Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Shashank Goel said that the polling had gone off smoothly. Earlier in the day, he had inspected the polling booths in Warangal.
(To read more about the preparations made by the State Election Commission for the elections, click
here.)
Among the lakhs of voters who flocked to the polling booths was IT and Industries Minister K T Rama Rao, who cast his vote for the Hyderabad-Mahabubnagar-Rangareddy elections at the Shaikpet Tahasildar office in the state capital. He then interacted with the media, and encouraged all the graduate voters across the two constituencies to exercise their franchise as well.
Other TRS bigwigs were also seen rushing to cast their votes - while Tourism and Culture Minister Srinivas Goud was seen visiting a booth in Mahabubnagar, Agriculture Minister S Niranjan Reddy voted at Wanaparthy.
Meanwhile, Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar cast his vote at Upparpally. He also encouraged the people of both the constituencies to perform their duty as democratic citizens, and urged them to cast their votes.
The pleas of the state's leaders and officials seemed to have encouraged many voters to exercise their franchise - according to reports, voter turnout in the two constituencies was pegged at a high 72% despite health concerns caused by the recent
spike in the number of Covid-19 cases.
The fate of the 93 contestants in the fray for the Hyderabad-Mahabubnagar-Rangareddy seat, and of the 71 fighting it out for the Warangal-Nalgonda-Khammam seat will be revealed on March 17