Telangana municipal elections: Counting of votes on Feb 13

The counting of votes in the elections to 116 municipalities and seven municipal corporations in Telangana, a test of popularity for the ruling Congress and opposition BJP and BRS, will be taken up on February 13. The counting would be taken up at 123 centres across the state from 8 AM, the State Election Commission said on Thursday.

The counting of votes in the elections to 116 municipalities and seven municipal corporations in Telangana, a test of popularity for the ruling Congress and opposition BJP and BRS, will be taken up on February 13. The counting would be taken up at 123 centres across the state from 8 AM, the State Election Commission said on Thursday. The counting process of votes is expected to take time as ballot papers were used in the election. The SEC said adequate security arrangements have been made to ensure peace and order. Section 163 of BNSS (prohibitory orders) would be in force and around the counting centres. Only the counting supervisors, counting assistants, candidates and their election and counting agents would be allowed inside the counting hall. Webcasting would be made in all the counting centres and outside the strong rooms, the Commission said in a release. Counting of postal ballots would be taken up first, followed by regular ballot papers. Over 73 per cent of voters exercised their franchise on February 11 in the election to 116 municipalities and seven municipal corporations. Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, who met AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge and party leaders Rahul Gandhi and K C Venugopal in Delhi on Thursday, told them that Congress would get good results in the urban polls, party sources said here. BJP leader and Union Coal Minister G Kishan Reddy hoped that the saffron party would get impressive results despite the alleged misuse of power and distribution of money by the Congress. After its major success in the gram panchayat elections in December last year, the ruling Congress aims to consolidate its position as the dominant player in state politics by scoring emphatic wins in the urban local bodies. Hoping to emerge as a credible alternative to both the Congress and the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), which earlier ruled the state for two terms, the BJP conducted a spirited campaign in municipal polls. Having suffered setbacks in the 2023 assembly polls and 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the BRS came up with a decent performance in the gram panchayat polls and is keen to make substantial gains in the municipal elections to reverse its fortunes in the state.

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