The trend came after counting of votes for the Telangana Municipal Corporation elections began at 8 am today.
The Congress took an early lead in the Telangana Municipal Corporation elections as counting began at 8 am on Friday. Out of 116 municipalities, the party has won 37 so far, while the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) got 7.
Telangana Deputy Chief Minister Bhatti Wickramarka Mallu got an ink mark on her finger while casting her vote in municipal corporation elections at Indira Dairy polling station under Madhyara municipality in Khammam on Wednesday. (@bhatti_mallu x)The results of the rest of the civic bodies are still being tabulated. Out of the seven municipal corporations, the Congress has won one so far.
The police and the Election Commission of India (ECI) organized counting at centers across Telangana.
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Early trends in the Telangana Municipal Corporation elections on Friday show the Congress leading in 430 wards, followed by the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) in 222 wards. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was third with a lead in 61 wards, while other parties and independents were ahead in 59 wards, ANI reported.Elections were held in seven municipal corporations and 116 municipalities across the state on Wednesday. Polling was held in 414 wards of Kothagudem, Karimnagar, Mahabubnagar, Mancherial, Nizamabad, Nalgonda and Ramagundam corporations and 2,582 wards of 116 municipalities.About 70% of voters exercised their franchise by 5 pm, state election commission officials said. Warangal District Magistrate Satya Sharda said that the counting started at 8 am. He added that counting of postal ballots is underway, with four tables set up in Vardhanpet and ten in Norsampet.Earlier, Telangana BJP president N Ramachandra Rao had expressed confidence that the party would win a significant number of seats. “Last time, we had around 330 municipal councilors and corporators and three chairmen. This time, I am sure the people of Telangana will give a bigger mandate to the Bharatiya Janata Party. We are hopeful that we will do better and emerge as an alternative to the Congress,” Rao told ANI.A total of 16,031 ballot boxes were used in the election. Officials said, 137 strong rooms have been prepared for safe storage.Sporadic clashes occurred during the polling. In Karimnagar, police resorted to lathicharge to disperse BJP workers who had gathered near the Zilla Parishad office.Six BJP workers were injured. Protesting against the police action, BJP workers occupied the main road alleging fake voting in the 58th division. They questioned the use of force and accused the police of ignoring their complaints.Clashes were also reported at a polling booth in Ward 34 of Sangareddy town. Senior Congress leader T Jagga Reddy alleged that the duty officer had called his party’s candidate.Jagga Reddy tried to enter the polling station, leading to a clash with the police. He accused the officer of facilitating the alleged rigging in favor of the BRS candidate and warned that the Congress would boycott the election if the officer was not sacked.There were reports of tension in Parigani Municipality over allegations of fake voting. Clashes broke out at Polling Station 27 in Ward 13 after a Congress agent objected to suspected fake voting and demanded the removal of a voter.Priyanjali Narayan is a content producer at Hindustan Times, based in New Delhi, with over two years of experience covering national and international news. His work spans breaking news, in-depth explanatory and feature stories on global and domestic issues. Before joining Hindustan Times, he worked in the India Today newsroom, where he focused on expository journalism, writing detailed pieces on domestic and global issues and reporting feature stories that included interviews with prominent public figures. He holds a BA in History from Delhi University. His academic training in history continues to inform his storytelling. Outside of the newsroom, she can usually be found reading personal essays and fiction and planning her next trip.Read more
