1444 VVPATs replaced during Telangana Assembly polls

Chief Electoral Officer of Telangana Rajat Kumar said 1444 voter-verified paper audit trails (VVPATs) and 754 ballot units were replaced during the Assembly polls that were held on Friday.

Speaking to the media, Kumar said: "Polls were peaceful. Till 5 pm, 67% people had cast their votes. We received complaints about EVMs, which occurred mainly because of human interference. 628 CUs were deployed for the polls and 754 ballot units and 1444 VVPATs were replaced during the polls."

Elaborating upon the seizures that took place this time, he added, "We received 1042 complaints through emails and letters. We seized Rs 117.2 crore cash and 5.4 lakh litres of liquor this time. Total seizure including cash and other goods was Rs 138 crore."

The Chief Electoral Officer also added that Hyderabad witnessed the lowest voter turnout (50%) while Adilabad district saw the highest (76.5% vote). On the other hand, rural Warangal witnessed 76% polling.

Telangana has 2.8 crore electors, who have sealed the fate of a total of 1821 candidates. 32,814 polling stations were set up, out of which 119 were manned exclusively by women officials.

Umesh Sinha, Deputy Election Commissioner, said, "The polling in Telangana largely went on smoothly and peacefully barring few minor incidents. Quite brisk polling was witnessed in rural areas while a little lesser participation in Hyderabad was seen as compared to rural areas."

Counting of votes will be done on December 11.