Telangana elections: Telangana records 67 per cent polling

The TRS, seeking a second term in office, is going alone, as also the BJP.

The Congress has stitched together "Prajakutami" (People's Front) along with the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), the Telangana Jana Samiti (TJS) and the CPI to take on the ruling TRS, led by caretaker Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR).

The assembly polls in Telangana were originally scheduled to be held simultaneously with the Lok Sabha elections next year, but the House was dissolved on September 6 as per a recommendation by the state cabinet.

Security was beefed up at bordering areas which were identified as Left Wing Extremist-affected regions.

One lakh police personnel including 25,000 central paramilitary forces and 20,000 from other states are engaged in poll duties.

Campaigning by political parties came to an end at 5 pm Wednesday.

Over 2.80 crore electorate are eligible to exercise their franchise in the State, which has a total of 32,815 polling stations across.

More than 1.50 lakh polling officials including reserve staff are in the process of giving final touches Thursday to make the election to the 119-member House a smooth affair.

After a high-voltage campaign that saw war of words among contending parties, voting for the Assembly elections in Telangana will begin on Friday with the Congress-led alliance challenging the ruling TRS, and the BJP seeking to make it a triangular contest.