Amid Covid-19 fear, GWMC polls today

Warangal: Amid lingering fears of coronavirus, the stage is set for Friday's polling where 502 candidates contesting for the elections to the Greater Warangal Municipal Corporation (GWMC) to test their luck. The electioneering may have come to an end on Tuesday evening, but the leaders and the contestants have their task cut out with silent campaign and the backroom politics.

On the surface it appeared like a pre-election silence, but in fact, it's time for the parties to woo the voters colony-wise, caste-wise and the community-wise. The trusted followers of the leaders have begun distributing cash anywhere between Rs 1,000 and Rs 2,000 for each voter from Wednesday night. The electioneering was not as high-decibel as previous elections with the Covid-19 scare assuming massive proportions. Despite this, the ruling TRS, the BJP and the Congress put up a massive effort to woo the electorate in the short notice elections to the urban local body (ULB). Meanwhile, the administration ensured arrangements for the conduct of elections that will be held through ballot. The number of voters in the GWMC is 6,53,240. Of which, 3,23,100 are men, outnumbering them was women with 3,29,964. others 176.

The authorities set up 878 polling stations, of which 529 stations were under the surveillance of closed circuit television cameras. This apart, 46 polling stations have webcasting facilities. Micro-observers to supervise the polling process in 231 polling stations.

Meanwhile, there are doubts over the voter turnout due to the Covid-19 situation. The voting percentage was 60.38 in the previous election to the GWMC in 2016.

Warangal Urban District Collector Rajeev Gandhi Hanumanthu and Municipal Commissioner Pamela Satpathy officiated the distribution of polling material on Thursday. The polling will be held from 7 am to 5 pm on Friday. The counting will be on May 3