Over 60 % polling till 5 pm in Telangana

Telangana recorded 60.57 per cent voting till fivepm across 17 Lok Sabha constituencies of the State where former Union minister Renuka Chowdhury and AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi are among prominent candidates in the fray.

Medakrecorded highest number of voter turnout with 68.60 per cent while Secunderabad from where senior BJP leader Kishan Reddy registered just 39.20 per cent polling till five pm.

Telangana Chief Electoral Officer Rajat Kumarhad earlier said those who stand in queue at 5 pm will also be allowed to vote.

Telangana and Andhra Pradesh Governor E S L Narasimhan, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, TRS Working President KT Rama Rao, K Kavitha and Asaduddin Owaisi and film actors Chiranjeevi, Ram Charan, Allu Arjun, junior NTR and 'Baahubali' director SS Rajamouli were among the prominent people who cast their vote in their respective constituencies.

KCR, along with his wife cast his vote in Chintamadaka village in Siddipet district.

"Polling process is going on peacefully across Telangana," Rajat Kumar said.

A polling booth in Teeleru Village in Narayanpet district where ten women labourers were buried alive when loose soil and boulders fell on them Wednesday, wore a deserted look, according to reports.

A senior Narayanpet district official told PTI that there was lukewarm response for polling in Teeleru.

Key candidates in the fray include Telangana Rashtra Samiti President and Chief Minister Chandrasekhar Rao's daughter K Kavitha, Renuka Chowdhury, State Congress chief Uttam Kumar Reddy, Congress working president Revanth Reddy and Asaduddin Owaisi.

Telangana BJP chief spokesperson Krishna Saagar Rao alleged that the Election Commission has fallen short of expectations in conduct of elections in Telangana.

"In Telangana, there are several instances of EVMs not working," he claimed.

Teams deployed to fix the EVMs when they were not functional should have been technically more efficient, Rao said, adding, at many places, even though there were three EVMs in a booth, only one or two were functioning.

"They should have been technically more prepared," he said.

Apollo Hospitals Group Executive Vice Chairperson Shobana Kamineni Thursday said her name was missing in the voters' list and described it as "worst day as an Indian citizen."