The three-month-long electioneering for the Telangana Assembly elections ended on Wednesday at 5 pm.
The election was necessitated in Telangana after Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao dissolved the state Assembly on September 6 and declared candidates for 106 segments on the same day.
In the final lap, the caretaker chief minister ended his whirlwind campaign in his constituency Gajwel, and Congress chief Rahul Gandhi and TDP chief Nara Chandrababu concluded their pitch for the four parties Praja Kutami with a public meeting in Kodad of Nalgonda district.
However, in the Maoist influenced 13 constituencies — Sirpur, Chennur, Bellampally, Manheriyal, Asifabad, Mandhani, Bhupalapally, Mulugu, Pinapaka, Illendu, Kothagudem, Ashwaraopet, and Bhadhrachalam — canvassing ended an hour early at 4 pm.
Polling will start at 7 am in these segments so that it can end by 4 pm.
The EC has also completed the polling-related work in the state. On December 7, 32,815 polling booths will be ready for the 2.8 crore voters to utilise their franchise.
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High-voltage Poll Campaign
The TRS which had an early but slow start picked up the momentum with the party chief covering almost all segments by addressing half a dozen public meetings every day. KCR’s son K Taraka Rama Rao, daughter K Kavitha and nephew T Harish Rao chipped in covering different parts of the state. KCR led a scathing attack on TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu and to an extent succeeded in projecting Naidu as enemy number one of the newborn state.
Rahul and Naidu, on the other hand, addressed a series of roadshows, and the BJP responded with three public meetings by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. BJP national chief Amit Shah, Union ministers Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari and Sushma Swaraj and chief ministers of BJP ruled states also shared responsibilities.
CPI general secretary Chada Venkatreddy and TJS chief Kodandaram were the others that campaigned for the victory of Praja Kutami candidates. AIMIM chief Asaduddin campaigned for the eight party candidates who are contesting in the old city and Rajendranagar.
No bulk SMS
According to a press release from the DGP’s office, transmission of bulk Short Message Services (SMS) has been prohibited for 48 hours, starting from Wednesday 6 pm to Friday at 6 pm. The ban will also the messages originating from other states and terminating in Telangana.