GHMC polls: Asad casts vote, polling only 3.96% till 10 a.m.

Hyderabad: All India Majilis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) supremo and Lok Sabha member of Parliament from the Hyderabad seat Asaduddin Owaisi cast his vote for the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) elections at Shastriputam on Tuesday. Owaisi appealed to voters to come out in large number and exercise their right for ” development and good governance”.

Voting started in Hyderabad for the civic body polls on Tuesday at 7 a.m. The campaign for the GHMC elections this time however saw a charged atmosphere thanks to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which ran a shrill Hindutva campaign, and roped in national-level leaders from various states for its campaigns.

Over 74,44,260 voters will be exercising their franchise using ballot papers to elect their area representatives in the 150-wards of the GHMC limits. Polling will end at 6 p.m. and a total of 1,122 candidates are contesting for the GHMC elections. Till 10 a.m., poling percentage stood at just 3.96%.

A Telangana State Election Commission (SEC) official, who did not want to be named, informed that the SEC has made arrangements for the ballot-ox voting process and deployed 48,000 polling personnel and to ensure a peaceful elections. A 52,500 strong police force has been deployed by Telangana State Police for the same.

So far, IT and municipal administration minister K.T. Rama Rao, minister of state for home affairs (and BJP MP from the Secunderabad seat) G. Kishan Reddy, and Cyberabad Police commissioner V. C. Sajjanar were some of the well-known personalities who cast their vote.