MLC polls held smoothly in Telangana State

Karimnagar: Polling for two Local Authorities Constituency MLC seats erstwhile Karimnagar district ended peacefully on Friday with the exception of a few incidents.

Polling was conducted in eight polling stations across the district. A total of 10 candidates were in the fray. After the defeat of Huzurabad bye-election, the ruling party TRS took about 900 members of its party to the camps (Goa, Maharashtra and Hyderabad) not to let the votes split.

Former mayor S Ravinder Singh remained local in his own style and continued his campaign with his family members. The local bodies' elected members of the TRS came back to the district, after spending time in camps for 12 days, to cast their votes.

IT and Municipal Minister KT Rama Rao cast his vote as an ex-officio member in Sircilla. Minister Gangula Kamalakar cast his vote in Karimnagar, Minister Koppula Eshwar in Peddapalli and MP Venkatesh Neta in Jagtial.

Husnabad MLA Sathish Kumar exercised his right to vote in Husnabad. Huzurabad MLA Etela Rajender, who was newly sworn in, was not able to exercise his voting right in the election as there was a provision to register a month before the notification.

Minister Kamalakar got into an altercation with the police, who prevented him and his followers from entering the polling station with pink scarves around their necks. But the minister forced his way into the polling station.

Many leaders faced criticism for not wearing masks. A woman MPTC from Katrapally in Huzurabad mandal and another one from Rekonda in Chigurumamidi mandal came in ambulances to exercise their right to vote as they were ill.

Meanwhile, after the polling, Independent candidate Sardar Ravinder Singh's early victory celebrations became a hot topic. A few women elected members came to a polling station in the district with a dress code and impressed the onlookers.