Polls: Campaigning concludes in Telangana

Campaigning by political parties came to an end today in Telangana, where 2.82 crore electorate are eligible to exercise their franchise on April 30.

Chief Electoral officer Bhanwarlal said as many as 1.40 lakh police personnel, including 162 companies of central security forces, will be deployed to oversee security arrangements on the polling day.

Simultaneous polling for 119 Assembly and 17 Lok Sabha constituencies will be held in over 30,000 polling stations, he said at a press conference.

"Nearly three lakh employees will ensure smooth polling and webcasting will be done in 17,000 police station limits. Large screens will be set up at important locations for the public viewing," Bhawarlal said.

All government and private establishments will be closed to enable the employees and workers to cast their vote. Companies including IT firms found to be functioning on the voting day would be liable for prosecution.

Except 10 constituencies, polling will be held from 7 AM to 6 PM, the official said.

As many as 1,669 candidates for Assembly and 265 candidates for Lok Sabha are in the poll fray.

"So far we have seized Rs 126 crore unaccounted cash and 4.57 lakh litres of alcohol during various checks across the state. 74 kg gold and 708 kg silver were also seized," he said.

Police have arrested 15,170 people so far in various election-related cases, he added.