Warangal: People in droves queue up to cast their votes

Warangal: Barring a few minor incidents, by and large, the polling was peaceful in the 12 constituencies spread across the erstwhile Warangal district on Thursday. The fate of the 189 candidates will remain in suspense until Sunday’s counting (December 3).

The voting which started quite sedately at 7 am went late into the night with many people waiting for their turn in several polling stations. On the other hand, the urban voters have once again shown blithe concern to franchise their vote. However, late in the afternoon, the polling stations in Warangal East and West constituencies covering more urban voters witnessed a surge in voter turnout. According to uniformed information, some parties distributed a large sum of money to attract the voters from the afternoon, and they succeeded.

Meanwhile, speculation is rife that the ruling BRS had a clandestine understanding with the BJP to ensure the defeat of former minister Konda Surekha. It’s said that with no hopes of winning the BRS had supported the BJP candidate E Pradeep Rao in a last-minute deal.

It’s also reported that Konda Surekha had given BRS nominee Nannapuneni Narender a dressing-down, accusing him of joining hands with the BJP and threatening the Congress workers. The incident occurred when Surekha saw Narender at a polling station.

According to the information available at 5 pm, the electorate in Narsampet and Jangaon constituencies stood ahead of other segments with 83 per cent each turnout.

Warangal East 64%, Warangal West 51%, Wardhannapet 73%, Parkal 77%, Station Ghanpur 76%, Palakurthi 81%, Mahabubabad 76%, Dornakal 79%, Mulugu 75% and Bhupalpally 76%. The authorities are yet to release the final poll percentages, constituency-wise.