Telangana Assembly Elections 2023: All you need to know

Voting for the Telangana Assembly election commenced on Thursday, with all 119 Assembly seats up for polling in a single phase. The political landscape in the state is marked by a three-way competition between the incumbent BRS, the Congress, and the BJP. The BRS aims to secure a third consecutive term in power, facing stiff opposition from the Congress, which has left no stone unturned in an attempt to come to power. Meanwhile, the BJP is also trying to make its presence felt in the Southern state. The results for the Telangana Assembly Election will be tallied on December 3, along with the states of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Mizoram.

Poll Timings

Voting is scheduled to take place from 7 AM to 5 PM in 106 constituencies, and in the 13 constituencies affected by Left Wing Extremism (LWE), polling will be conducted from 7 AM to 4 PM.

Total number of voters

Telangana has a total of 3.17 crore eligible voters, including 5,32,990 individuals who have recently turned 18. Additionally, there are 5,06,493 persons with disabilities, 2,557 individuals identified as the Third Gender, and 4,43,943 senior citizens aged 80 and above.

Seats and seat distribution

Telangana has a total of 119 assembly seats, and the BRS has fielded candidates in all of them. According to the agreed-upon distribution of seats, the BJP and Jana Sena are competing in 111 and 8 seats, respectively. The Congress has fielded candidates in 118 and allocated one seat to its ally CPI(M). Asaduddin Owaisi’s AIMIM has fielded candidates in 9 selected seats across the state.

Poll Arrangements

The Election Commission has ensured the establishment of a total of 35,655 polling stations to facilitate seamless voting. A workforce of over 2.5 lakh personnel has been deployed for poll-related duties. Since the enforcement of the model code of conduct, law enforcement agencies have confiscated assets valued at around Rs 737 crore, encompassing cash, gold, liquor, and freebies.

Key Candidates

Incumbent Chief Minister and the founder of BRS, K Chandrashekar Rao, is contesting from two seats: Gajwel, and Kamareddy.
Telangana minister K T Rama Rao is contesting from the Sircilla seat
BJP’s Bandi Sanjay Kumar is contesting from Karimnagar constituency
Congress state president Revant Reddy from the Kodangal and Kamareddy constituency
Congress’s Mohammad Azharuddin from Jubilee Hills

Poll Promises

The BRS campaign revolved around highlighting the shortcomings of the previous Congress administration and emphasizing ongoing welfare initiatives for farmers and women. Additionally, Rao highlighted his arduous efforts in securing statehood for Telangana.
The Congress primarily centered its campaign on accusing the BRS government of corruption, concurrently promoting its "six guarantees" as key focal points.
BJP has laid considerable emphasis on advocating for a "double engine government" and drew attention to what they termed as the "family rule" of KCR, while also leveling allegations of corruption against the incumbent government.

2018 Revisited

In the assembly elections of 2018, the Bharatiya Rashtra Samithi emerged victorious by securing 88 seats. The Indian National Congress (INC) secured the second position with 19 seats, followed by the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) with two seats. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) secured one seat, while the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) secured seven seats. Additionally, independent candidates won one seat.​