Assembly Elections 2018: Polling underway in Telangana and Rajasthan

New Delhi: Polling for the 200-member assembly in Rajasthan and for the 119 constituencies in Telangana, began on Friday amid high security arrangements. Polling began at 7.00 am and will continue till 5 p.m.

Highlights of Telangana Assembly Elections 2018:

• This is the first full-fledged elections in India’s youngest state.
• Polling process began in all 32,815 polling centres spread across 31 districts.
• Over 2.8 crore voters, nearly half of them women, are eligible to exercise their franchise to decide the political fortunes of 1,821 candidates including Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao and his 14 cabinet colleagues.
• Polling will continue till 5 p.m. except in 13 Left Wing Extremism affected constituencies, where it will end an hour early.
• Over 50,000 security personnel including 18,860 drafted from neighbouring states and central forces were deployed as part of the massive security arrangements.
• Over 1.50 lakh polling personnel were on duty to conduct the polling process.
• As many as 55,329 EVMs and 39,763 control units were arranged for the polling.
• Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) were installed across the state for the first time.
• It would be a close contest between ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), which is contesting all seats on its own, and the opposition Congress-led People’s Front.
• The opposition alliance also includes Telugu Desam Party (TDP), Communist Party of India and Telangana Jana Samithi (TJS).
• The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is contesting all seats on its own, is the third key force in some constituencies.

Highlights of Rajasthan Assembly Elections 2018:

• Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje (Jhalrapatan), Congress state president Sachin Pilot (Tonk), former chief minister Ashok Gehlot (Sardarpura) are among the 2,274 candidates in the fray.
• Tonk, with a sizeable Muslim population, is a keenly-watched contest between Sachin Pilot and BJP candidate and Rajasthan Transport Minister Yoonus Khan, who is the saffron party's only Muslim face in the elections.
• The election in Ramgarh constituency of Alwar district was put off following the death of Bahujan Samaj Party candidate Laxman Singh.
• About 4.74 crore people will decide the fate of 2,274 candidates in the fray for the 200-member Assembly.
• Out of 2,274 candidates - 189 women are contesting for 199 out of the 200 assembly constituencies.
• The BJP is contesting on all seats while the Congress has left five seats for its allies.
• The Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has fielded 190, the Communist Party of India-Marxist 28 and the Communist Party of India 16 candidates.
• There are 830 Independent candidates.