Voting comes to an end in Telangana, 56.17 pc turnout recorded till 3 pm

Hyderabad: Voting for the 119 seats of Telangana is underway today. Over 2.8 crore voters of Telangana are expected to exercise their franchise to elect the new government in the state.

Voting began at 7 am and will conclude at 5 pm, except in 13 constituencies classified as Left Wing Extremist-affected, where the process ends at 4 pm.

As many as 1,821 candidates, including a transgender, are in fray in today’s assembly election which is the first full-fledged polls in the country’s youngest state.

Election Commission has made elaborate arrangements for a smooth conduct of the voting process in 32,815 polling stations.

For the first time, the Election Commission is using Voters Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) in Telangana.

The Assembly polls in Telangana were originally scheduled to be held simultaneously with the Lok Sabha elections next year, but the House was dissolved prematurely on September 6 as per a recommendation by the state cabinet.

Counting of votes would be taken up on December 11.

Here are LIVE updates on Telangana Assembly elections 2018

03:50 pm: 56.17 per cent voter turnout recorded till 3 pm.

02:27 pm: “I checked my name online 2-3 weeks ago, my mother and my names were there, my father and my sister's names were missing. Today we went to cast vote but my name was also missing. I don't understand how's my name was missing. I've been living here for 12 year,” badminton player Jwala Gutta told news agency ANI.

(Photo: ANI)

02:20 pm: Challa Vamshi Chand Reddy, Congress candidate from Kalwakurthy, Mahbubnagar was allegedly attacked by unknown miscreants earlier on Friday. He was later shifted to Nizam's Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS) Hospital, Hyderabad and is out of danger now.

(Photo: ANI)

02:03 pm: Caretaker Chief Minister of Telangana cast vote at a polling station in Siddipet.

(Photo: ANI)

02:02 pm: Caretaker Minister KT Rama Rao cast vote at a polling station in Hyderabad earlier today.

(Photo: ANI)

01:38 pm: 49.15 per cent voter turnout recorded till 1 pm.

12:35 pm: BJP MP Bandaru Dattatreya cast vote at booth no. 229 in Ramnagar of Musheerabad constituency in Hyderabad.

(Photo: ANI)

12:10 pm: Sania Mirza cast her vote at Film Nagar Cultural Center in Hyderabad.

(Photo: ANI)

12:05 pm: 23.4 per cent voter turnout recorded till 11:00 am.

10:02 am: 10.15 per cent voter turnout recorded till 9:30 am

09:57 am: TRS MP K Kavitha stands in a queue to cast vote at polling booth no. 177 in Pothangal, Nizamabad.

(Photo: ANI)

09:54 am: Actor Chiranjeevi in a queue to cast his vote at polling booth no. 148 in Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad.

(Photo: ANI)

09:48 am: AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi cast vote at polling booth no. 317 at Mailardevpally, Shastripuram.

(Photo: ANI)

09:20 am: 8.97 per cent voter turnout recorded till 9 am.

08:49 am: Deputy Chief Minister Kadiyan Srihari cast his vote in Warangal.

(Photo: ANI)

08:31 am: BJP's G Kishan Reddy cast his vote at polling booth no.7 in Kachiguda, Hyderabad.

(Photo: ANI)

08:20 am: Actor Allu Arjun stood in a queue to cast his vote at booth no. 152 in Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad.

(Photo: ANI)

08:18 am: Actor Akkineni Nagarjuna, his wife and actor Amala Akkineni waited in queue to cast their votes at booth no. 151 in Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad.

(Photo: ANI)

07:55 am: Voting is yet to begin at the polling station at GHMC Indoor Stadium, Amberpet. The delay is due to a technical problem. Voting in the Telangana began at 7 am on Friday.

07:50 am: Telangana Irrigation Minister T Harish Rao cast his vote in polling booth no. 102 in Siddipet constituency.

(Photo: ANI)

07:35 am: People queue outside a polling station in Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad to cast their votes.

07:33 am: Nizamabad: Voters exercise their franchise at a polling station in Pothangal.

07:23 am: BJP President Amit Shah has appealed to voters in Telangana to exercise their franchise.

"I appeal to my sisters and brothers of Telangana to come out and vote in large numbers for a appeasement free and development oriented government. I specially urge my young friends to participate in this biggest festival of democracy without fail," Amit Shah tweeted.

06:58 am: Nizamabad: Voters queue outside a polling station in Pothangal where voting will begin shortly.