Karimnagar: The stage is set for polling in the bye-election to Huzurabad assembly constituency in Telangana on Saturday, with the ruling TRS, opposition BJP and Congress locked in a triangular contest.
As many as 2,37,036 voters are eligible to exercise their franchise, district collector RV Karnan said on Friday. They include 1,17,933 male and 1,19,102 female voters.
Polling would start at 7 AM and continue till 7 PM in 306 polling stations in the constituency.
As many as 1,715 polling personnel, including presiding officers, have been deployed. "Live webcasting" would be done in the polling stations, he said.
COVID-19 protocols would be followed strictly, he said.
Karimnagar Police Commissioner V.Satyanarayana said 107 polling stations have been identified to be sensitive and additional forces are arranged there.
As many as 3,865 police personnel have been posted to ensure smooth conduct of the polling. Twenty companies of Central forces have also been deployed.
The bye-election has been necessitated in Huzurabad in view of the resignation of Eatala Rajender in June following his removal from the state Cabinet over allegations of land grabbing.
Rajender, who dismissed the allegations, has quit the TRS and joined the BJP. He is seeking re-election on BJP ticket.
Though as many as 30 candidates are in the fray, the main contest is among Gellu Srinivas Yadav (TRS), Eatala Rajender (BJP) and Venkat Balmoori (Congress).
The bypoll is a do-or-die battle for Rajender, while it is significant for the BJP as it aims at emerging as the alternative to ruling TRS in the 2023 Legislative Assembly elections.
It is crucial for the TRS as well as it would like to demonstrate that its dominance in state politics continues unchallenged.
The counting of votes would be taken up on November 2.
