Telangana election: Stage set for triangular contest in India's youngest state. Know key candidates, constituencies
Telangana election: Around 3.26 crore eligible voters will cast their votes in 35,655 polling stations across the state.
Will Kalvakuntla Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR) win a third successive term as the chief minister of Telangana? Will the Congress wrest another southern state after Karnataka in the run-up to 2024 election? Or, will the Bharatiya Janata Party play a spoiler in 2023?
Around 3.26 crore eligible voters will cast their votes in 35,655 polling stations across the state. Polling will take place from 7 am to 5 pm in 106 constituencies and from 7 am to 4 pm in 13 Left Wing Extremism (LWE) affected areas.
The Thursday's election will see 2,290 contestants vying for victory. Telangana is India’s youngest state, which was born out of the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh in 2014.
In the previous 2018 assembly elections, BRS, then named Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), swept the polls by clinching 88 out of 119 seats, capturing 47.4 per cent of the overall vote share. The Congress trailed far behind with only 19 seats, while the BJP had won one seat.
K Chandrasekhar Rao (Gajwel, Kamareddy)
Chief minister Kalvakuntla Chandrashekar Rao is contesting from Gajwel and Kamareddy constituencies. On the final day of campaigning, KCR, who is the current chief minister, made an emotional plea, expressing his desire for the state's development over personal positions as he nears 70 .
In 2018, KCR won from Gajwel by over 58,000 votes. This time, he has been pitted against Bharatiya Janata Party's Etala Rajender.
KT Rama Rao (Sircilla)
Kalvakuntla Taraka Rama Rao, Telangana minister and son of KCR, is contesting from the Sircilla seat, which he secured in the 2018 assembly election by a substantial margin of over 89,000 votes.
Amidst the 2023 assembly polls' campaign, KTR reminded constituents that the Telangana government, under Chief Minister KCR's leadership, has provided the Rythu Bandhu benefit 11 times, positively impacting 70 lakh farmers in the state.
Revanth Reddy
Revanth Reddy, the state Congress chief and a Lok Sabha member, is entering the electoral fray from Kodangal and Kamareddy constituencies. In Kamareddy, he will contest against the current chief minister KCR. "Six guarantees will be implemented when Congress comes to power," he said during his election campaign.
In the 2018 elections, Reddy contested from Kodangal, a seat previously won by Patnam Narendra Reddy, with a margin exceeding 9,000 votes.
Etela Rajender
Former minister and senior Bharatiya Janata Party legislator Eatala Rajender faces a unique situation in the Telangana assembly elections scheduled for November 30.
Rajender is among three candidates opting to contest from two different seats—the other being chief minister KCR and Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president A Revanth Reddy.
He is challenging KCR in Gajwel while striving to retain his original seat in Huzurabad.
T Raja Singh
BJP leader T Raja Singh, the controversial MLA, is contesting for the third time from the Goshamahal constituency. BRS's Nanda Kishore Vyas is contesting against Raja Singh in the Goshamahal segment. In the 2018 election, Singh had defeated Prem Singh Rathore of TRS by more than 17,000 votes.
Bandi Sanjay
Bandi Sanjay Kumar, BJP's National General Secretary and Karimnagar MP, seeks victory from the Karimnagar assembly constituency, after he lost the seat in two-straight elections.
In the 2018 elections, he lost to Gangula Kamalakar from the then TRS (now BRS) by a margin of over 14,000 votes in the same seat.
In the upcoming election, BRS has once again fielded Kamalakar against Bandi Sanjay, while the Congress has introduced a new candidate, Purumalla Srinivas.
Harish Rao
Thanneeru Harish Rao, the finance minister and six-time MLA of Telangana's ruling party, BRS, is vying for re-election from Siddipet. In the 2018 Assembly elections, Harish Rao won by securing a remarkable 1,31,295 votes, defeating Telangana Jana Samithi (TJS) candidate Bhavani Marikanti by an overwhelming margin of over 1,18,000 votes.
Akbaruddin Owaisi (AIMIM)
Akbaruddin Owaisi, the younger brother of AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi is contesting from the Chandrayangutta constituency.
During the 2018 assembly elections, Akbaruddin Owaisi secured victory in the Chandrayangutta seat by a margin of more than 80,000 votes, defeating BJP candidate Shahejadi Sayyad.
Karne Shireesha alias ‘Barrelakka’ (Kollapur)
Karne Shireesha, 26, popularly known as ‘Barrelakka’ (sister who owns buffaloes), is the youngest candidate contesting in the current assembly elections. She is contesting from the Kollapur constituency of Nagarkurnool district. Shireesha's representation on behalf of unemployed youths has sparked attention in her constituency, drawing volunteers from distant regions who actively participate in her campaign.
She faces stiff competition from two experienced politicians, incumbent BRS MLA Beeram Harshavardhan Reddy and former minister Jupally Krishna Rao, a five-time representative of Kollapur.
The counting of votes will take place on December 3.