Congress, BJP accuse each other of bribing voters
Hyderabad: The stage is set for the election of a Graduate MLC and two Teacher MLCs on Thursday. The voting will be conducted at 773 polling stations across 15 districts from 8 am to 4 pm.
The election is speculated to be keenly contested for graduates and teachers constituencies for Medak-Nizamabad-Adilabad-Karimnagar region and the teachers constituency in the Warangal-Khammam-Nalgonda region. The election will be conducted using the preferential mode of voting through ballot paper. The votes will be counted on March 3.
There are 3,55,159 graduate voters and 27,088 teacher voters. A total of 499 graduate polling stations and 274 teacher polling stations across all districts have been set up. Additionally, 93 common polling stations (for both graduates and teachers) have been set up.
Employees registered as Graduate and Teacher MLC voters, including those employed by central and state government offices, are entitled to special leave to cast their votes. Private sector employees in commercial and industrial establishments with voting rights should also be granted the necessary permissions by their employers.
While the BJP has fielded candidates for all three seats, the ruling Congress is contesting only the Graduate MLC election. The BRS has opted to stay out of the contest.
The Graduate MLC election has turned into a fierce contest between the Congress and BJP. The BJP has also fielded candidates for the two Teacher MLC seats, where it faces stiff competition from Teachers' Unions.
A day ahead of polling, the Congress and the BJP accused each other of inducing voters by distributing up to Rs 5,000 to each voter. Local Congress and BJP leaders filed complaints with EC officials stating that the money was being paid to voters through online as well as offline mode.
As many as 56 candidates are contesting for the lone Graduates' constituency, while 15 and 19 candidates are in the fray for the Medak-Nizamabad-Adilabad-Karimnagar and Warangal-Khammam-Nalgonda Teachers' constituencies, respectively.
Union ministers G. Kishan Reddy and Bandi Sanjay Kumar have actively campaigned for BJP candidates. On the other hand, Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, ministers and TPCC chief B. Mahesh Kumar Goud rallied support for the Congress Graduate MLC candidate.
Karimnagar district collector and election returning officer Pamela Satpathy said that all necessary arrangements have been made for the polling process. She visited the election material distribution and reception centers at Dr B.R. Ambedkar Stadium in Karimnagar on Wednesday, inspected the ballot boxes, and provided guidelines to presiding officers and polling staff.
Voters must present either their voter ID or any of the 12 identification documents approved by the Election Commission to cast their votes.
Following the conclusion of voting, ballot boxes will be transported under tight security to the reception centre at Ambedkar Stadium in Karimnagar. Section 144 will be enforced at polling stations, with CCTV surveillance and real-time monitoring from the control room to ensure smooth conduct.
