60.5 % turnout till 5 pm in 17 LS seats in Telangana

Polling for the 17 Lok Sabha seats in Telangana is concluded on Thursday, without any untoward incidents being reported. Around 60 per cent voter turnout was recorded, though the Election Commission said that the figure might increase.

Hyderabad:Voting for 17 Parliamentary seats in Telangana concluded on Thursday, with a turnout of 60 per cent. The Election Commission announced that the final figure is expected to increase.

UPDATES:

• 5:56 PM - 60.57 voter turnout in Telangana till 5 pm, voting still underway in Nizamabad.
  

  Voter turnout till 5 pm
• 5:45 PM - KTR says 'let down' by low voter turnout in urban areas
  Telangana Rashtra Samiti Working President KT Rama Rao lauded the Election Commission for the peaceful conduct of polls in Telangana. Rao although added that he was 'let down' by the low voter turnout in towns.
• 5:24 PM - Telangana CEO castsvote
  Telangana Chief Electoral Officer Rajat Kumar casts his vote.
  

  Telangana CEO Rajat Kumar casts vote
• 5:07 PM - Revanth Reddy castsvote
  Telangana Congress Working President and MP candidate from Malkajgiri Parliamentary Constituency casts vote.
  

  Revanth Reddy casts vote
• 3:45 PM - 48.95per centturnout recorded till 3 pm in Telangana
  Telangana recorded 48.95 per cent polling till three pm across 17 Lok Sabha constituencies of the State, as voting progessed peacefully. Zaheerabad recorded highest number of voter turnout with 63.39 per cent while Hyderabad from where AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi is seeking re-election registered 27.79 per cent till three pm.
• 3:34 PM - Mohd Azharuddin castsvote
  Former cricketer and Congress leader Mohammad Azharuddin, casts his vote at polling booth number 71.
  

  Mod Azharuddin casts vote

The polling process started amid tight security at 7 am in all constituencies except Nizamabad, where it will start at 8 am, owing to the presence of the record number of contestants. The process is scheduled to end at 5 pm, except in Maoist-affected areas where it will end an hour early. In Nizamabad, the process will continue till 6 pm.

he fight is essentially between three main parties in the state: Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress. While the TRS has emerged victorious in the assembly elections and has set itself a target of sweeping all the parliamentary seats, other parties are trying to make up for the lost ground.

Voters to decide the fate of 443 candidates in fray

Nearly 2.97 crore voters will decide the fortunes of 443 candidates in the single-phase polling. The state has 34,603 polling stations including 5,749 sensitive stations.

The Nizamabad constituency will be entering the record books with a record number of candidates and the maximum number of EVMs. A total of 185 candidates including 178 farmers are in the fray while 12 Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) will be used in each polling booth.

The farmers filed the nominations to highlight their problems including lack of remunerative prices for their produce.

Chief Electoral Officer Rajat Kumar said since the mock polling in Nizamabad would take two hours, the actual polling process would begin only at 8 am.

The polling has been peaceful so far, barring EVMs glitches at few centres across the state.

Meanwhile, Telangana Rashtra Samithi's (TRS) K Kavitha cast her vote at a polling station in Pothangal situated in Nizamabad parliamentary constituency, whereas, AIMIM Chief and Hyderabad MP candidate Asaduddin Owaisi cast his vote at a polling booth in the city. He is a three-time sitting MP from the constituency. TRS Working President KT Rama Rao cast his vote at a polling centre in Hyderabad.

Three-time MLA G. Kishan Reddy, who is contesting as the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) candidate from Secunderabad, cast his vote along with his family members. Former Union Minister Bandaru Dattatreya, who earlier held the Telangana PCC Chief Uttam Kumar Reddy had also cast his vote.