Telangana, the nation’s youngest state, is gearing up for its third Assembly election since its formation, with the Election Commission of India announcing that the polls will take place on November 30.
Back in 2018, Telangana witnessed Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao dissolving the State Assembly on September 6, 2018, seeking a fresh mandate ahead of the scheduled polls in April 2019.
The election dates were officially declared by the ECI on October 6, with the Model Code of Conduct coming into effect on the same day. Concurrently, four other states—Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, and Mizoram—also held assembly elections.
In Rajasthan and Telangana, polling occurred on December 7, while in Madhya Pradesh and Mizoram, it took place on November 28. Chhattisgarh had polling conducted in two phases, on November 12 and November 20, respectively, with the counting of votes on December 11 for all the states.
In Telangana, polling transpired in a single phase, covering all 119 assembly seats. According to the report from the Telangana Chief Electoral Officer’s office, 2,653 candidates submitted nominations, but 465 were rejected by returning officers for various reasons. Ultimately, 2,188 valid nominations were accepted, leaving 1,821 candidates vying for 119 constituencies.
The final electoral rolls published on October 12, 2018, revealed that Telangana had 28,064,680 voters, comprising 13.8 million males, 13.5 million females, and 5,560 transgender voters.
Key political parties in the election included the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (now Bharat Rashtra Samithi), Indian National Congress (INC), Telangana Jana Samithi (TJS), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Telugu Desam Party (TDP), CPI(M), CPI, and All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM). The TDP, CPI, and TJS had formed an alliance with the Congress party for the assembly polls.
The ruling BRS secured 88 seats, while the Congress won 19, AIMIM claimed seven, TDP two, BJP one, and AIFB one, with independent candidates winning one seat.
Out of a total of 20,695,428 votes cast, TRS received 9,700,948 votes, the Congress garnered 5,883,088, TDP received 725,714, CPI 83,215, CPM 91,099, and the BJP 1,443,799.
AIMIM received 561,091 votes, BSP 426,203, All India Forward Bloc (AIFB) 159,515, and independents received 673,609 votes.
also read :
Telangana Assembly Elections Scheduled for November 30