The outcome of the elections in Rajasthan, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Mizoram is expected to set the tone for the Lok Sabha contest next year
Voting has begun in Telangana and Rajasthan for 119 and 199 Assembly constituencies respectively amid tight security on Friday.
While over 4.75 crore people are expected to cast votes in Rajasthan, over 2.8 crore voters will exercise their franchise in Telangana.
According to election officials, the voter turnout in Telangana and Rajasthan till 1 PM was 49.15% and 41.53% respectively.
Voting began at 7 am and will conclude at 5 pm, except in 13 constituencies classified as Left Wing Extremist-affected, where the process ends at 4 pm itself.
Additional DG ( Law and order) Jitender Thursday told PTI that about one lakh security personnel, including 25,000 central paramilitary forces and 20,000 from other states, are engaged in poll duties.
Telangana: State Irrigation Minister T Harish Rao casts his vote in polling booth no. 102 in Siddipet constituency. pic.twitter.com/2q2tqbgoXl
— ANI (@ANI)A senior police official said security was beefed up at bordering areas which were identified as Left Wing Extremist-affected regions.
Last time, chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao won 63 seats against the15 seats of Chandrababu Naidu's Telugu Desam Party and 21 seats of the Congress.
This time, the BJP, which is trying to get a foothold in the state, fielded their bigwigs for campaigning.
According to an official spokesperson, polling began at 8 am in all the 51,687 booths set up across the state.
Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje (Jhalrapatan), Congress state president Sachin Pilot (Tonk), former chief minister Ashok Gehlot (Sardarpura) are among the 2,274 candidates in the fray.
Rajasthan CM Vasundhara Raje casts her vote at polling booth no. 31A in Jhalrapatan constituency of Jhalawar. pic.twitter.com/DRJVYFkBb4
— ANI (@ANI)The election in Ramgarh constituency of Alwar district was put off following the death of Bahujan Samaj Party candidate Laxman Singh.
Rajasthan Home Minister Gulab Chand Kataria offers prayers at Shiv temple in Udaipur before casting his vote. pic.twitter.com/SAxF1UPc8e
— ANI (@ANI)The results will be out on December 11, along with those from the other four states which saw Assembly elections in the past few weeks.
The outcome of the elections in Rajasthan, Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Mizoram is expected to set the tone for the Lok Sabha contest next year.
With PTI inputs
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