10.6 per cent voting till 9 am in Telangana

Telangana registered 10.6 per cent voting till 9 am as polling in the first of the seven-phased general elections began on Thursday, according to an official communication.

People queued up at polling booths as voting was underway in the all 17 Lok Sabha constituencies of Telangana, where Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao's daughter K Kavitha, former Union Minister Renuka Chowdary and AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi are among the prominent candidates in the fray.

Telangana and Andhra Pradesh Governor ESL Narasimhan and K Kavitha were among the prominent people who cast their vote in their respective constituencies early.

"Polling process is going on peacefully across Telangana. According to reports, there was 10.6 per cent polling," Telangana Chief Electoral Officer Rajat Kumar said.

Polling in 16 constituencies began at 7 am, while voting process in Nizamabad started at 8 am. Over 2.97 crore voters would decide the fate of 443 candidates in the state.

In 13 Left Wing Extremism (LWE)-effected Assembly segments under five parliamentary constituencies polling would be held from 7 am to 4 pm.

In Nizamabad Lok Sabha constituency, where 185 candidates, including more than 170 farmers, are in the fray, voting began from 8 am as mock polling took more time compared to other constituencies in view of the large number of candidates.

The farmers have entered the fray in large numbers to highlight their demand for remunerative price to turmeric and red jowar. The Election Commission decided to conduct polling in Nizamabad with EVMs despite the large number of candidates and made arrangements accordingly.

As many as 145 companies of central paramilitary forces, besides over 55,000 state police have been deployed for security arrangements.