Telangana: Polling underway in Munugode assembly bypoll, 11.20% voter turnout till 9 am

People queued up to cast their votes at the polling stations after the voting commenced at 7 am this morning.

A total of 2,41,795 electorate – 1,21,662 men and 1,20,126 women – are expected to exercise their franchise till 6 pm.

Congress candidate Palvai Sravanthi Reddy cast her vote at Polling station 173 in Idikuda village in Nalgonda district.

TRS Candidate Kusukuntla Prabhakar Reddy along with his wife exercised their franchise in his hometown Lingojigudem in Munugode Constituency in Narayanapur Mandal.

There are reports of glitches in Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) at two places in the constituency which have been rectified later, Telangana Chief Electoral Officer Vikas Raj said.

Voting was progressing smoothly in 298 polling stations in the constituency, of which 35 are in urban areas.

A total of 105 polling stations are identified as critical. The process would be webcast from all polling stations.

The counting will be taken up on Nov 6.

The bypoll was necessitated after sitting MLA Komatireddy Rajagopal Reddy resigned from the Congress to join the BJP in August.

He is contesting on the BJP ticket.

As part of the security arrangements, around 100 check-posts have been erected and 15 companies of central forces have been deployed along with 3,366 state police personnel.

The contest in Telangana's Munugode Assembly constituency is crucial for all major parties in the State- the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) and Opposition parties Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress.

The bypoll has turned out to be a battle of prestige before the assembly election which is to be held before Dec 2023.