The voter turnout during Telangana Assembly elections on Thursday was at 64% till 5pm as per the data shared by the Election Commision of India. The polling started at 7am on all 119 constituencies across the state and ended at 5pm on 106 seats. For the 13 seats affected by Left Wing Extremisim, elections concluded at 4pm.

The voting percentage increased steadily with about 9% recorded in the first two hours, increasing to 20% by 11 am. The voter turnout exceeded 35% by 1pm and 50% by 3pm. About 3.26 crore registered voters cast their votes at 35,655 polling booths sealing the fate of 2,990 candidates in fray. The polling percentage is likely to increase as many people were in line by 5pm in the polling stations. The polling was brisk in districts like Medak, Mulugu, Nirmal, Adilabad whereas it was low in Hyderabad district.

During the elections Telangana BJP president and Union Minister G Kishan Reddy wrote a letter to the Election Commission of India. He alleged the workers and candidates of ruling Bharat Rashtra Samiti are involved in electoral malpractices. Reddy wrote BRS people are working in groups of 100 – 200 people around polling stations and the police did not take any action on the same.

The letter read the Police and other officials instead of taking action against such incidents, is allowing the BRS workers to attack the BJP workers. Earlier Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, state BJP president G Kishan Reddy, BRS working president KT Rama Rao, his sister and MLC K Kavitha, AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi cast their votes.

Haryana Governor Bandaru Dattatreya and Tripura Governor Indrasena Reddy were important personalities who cast their vote in Hyderabad. The ruling BRS faces competition from the BJP and the Congress. Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao is banking on social welfare schemes to win a third consecutive term.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday interacted with the Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra beneficiaries through video conferencing. During the event, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched an initiative to increase the Jan Aushadhi Kendras from 10,000 to 25,000. Under the aegis of Pradhan Mantri Janaushadhi Pariyojana, these Kendra’s sell medicines at subsidised rates. 

PM Narendra Modi also dedicated to the nation the landmark 10,000th Jan Aushadi Kendra at AIIMS, Deoghar. The Pradhan Mantri Bharatiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana is a campaign-public welfare scheme by the Indian government. Launched by the Department of Pharmaceuticals, Jan Aushadhi Kendras provide quality medicines at affordable prices to the masses.  

A statement from the Prime Minister’s office stated that the Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra is being undertaken across the country with an aim to attain saturation of flagship schemes of the government by ensuring that the benefits of these schemes reach all targeted beneficiaries in a time bound manner.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi also launched the Drone Didi Yojana. The aforesaid scheme aims to provide drones to 15,000 select women Self Help Groups during the period 2024-25 to 2025-2026 for providing rental services to farmers for agriculture purposes. 

Earlier on Wednesday, the Union Cabinet  approved a central scheme for providing drones to 15,000 women Self Help Groups (SHGs), with an outlay of Rs 1,261 crore for two years beginning 2024-25 fiscal year. Under the aegis of this drone scheme, it has been ensured that the use of technology in farming drones will improve efficiency in spraying fertilisers and pesticides.

While interacting with the beneficiaries of the Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra, Prime Minister Narendra Modi remarked that he believes that people are saying on the basis of their experience and their heart that PM Modi’s guarantees begin from the point one stops expecting from others.

A clash between workers of the rulling Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and the Congress party broke out in Rangareddy district during the ongoing state elections in Telangana. The police reached the spot to control the situation and no injuries have been reported in the clashes.

Earlier scuffle broke out the Congress, BRS and BJP workers at a polling booth in Jangaon. According to reports BRS workers stopped state Congress president – party candidate Revanth Reddy’s brother Konadal Reddy from visiting the polling station in Kamareddy. They said Reddy is not a voter here and as a result is not authorized to visit.

BRS workers told the media, Kondal Reddy is roaming around with a fake pass with 20 people. He went to three polling stations with them in three vehicles but the police did not stop them. The BRS workers said Reddy is indulging in hooliganisim after coming here. BRS workers told the media that they are going to complain to the Election Commision.

Telangana is the youngest state in India where the ruling Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS), the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress party are up against each other. A total of 2290 contestants are fighting the elections. Some of the important candidates fighting the election are  Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, his son KT Rama Rao, Congress President A Revanth Reddy and BJP’s Bandi Sanjay Kumar and D Arvind.

A total of 119 candidates are contesting the elections from 119 seats from the BRS. According to the seat sharing agreement between the BJP and Jana Sena are contesting the state elctions on 111 and 8 seats respectively. The voting started at 7am and will continue till 5pm in 106 constituencies. In 13 Left Wing Extremism (LWE) affected areas in the state, the polling started at 7am and will continue till 4pm. According to the Election commission a total of 20.64% polling was recorded till 11 am.