Telangana polls: Prohibitory orders imposed, liquor shops shut

Hyderabad, Nov 28: Police in Telangana have imposed prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code in view of the Assembly elections scheduled on November 30.

Soon after the campaigning came to an end on Tuesday evening, prohibitory orders were imposed across the state.

The authorities also ordered closure of liquor shops for 48 hours. The shops will re-open only after polling comes to an end on Thursday evening.

Chief Electoral Officer Vikas Raj said the enforcement agencies were keeping a tight vigil to prevent distribution of freebies, liquor, and cash.

The enforcement agencies have seized cash, liquor, gold, drugs and freebies all worth over Rs 730 crore since the model code of conduct came into force on October 9.

The Election Commission has also ordered outsiders to leave constituencies.

The CEO said a close vigil will also be maintained to ensure that the restrictions with regard to the silent period are not violated. He said there should be no poll campaigning on social media. Publication of only approved advertisements will be allowed in the print media.

Star campaigners and other political leaders have been directed to refrain from addressing the media by way of press conferences and giving interviews on election matters.

More than 3.26 crore voters are eligible to cast their votes in all 119 constituencies. The authorities have set up a total of 35,655 polling stations.

The state has a total of 3,26,02,799 voters, comprising 1,62,98,418 men, 1,63,01,705 women, and 2,676 transgenders. There are 15,406 service voters and 2,944 NRI voters.

The number of voters in the age group of 18-19 is 9,99,667.

More than 2 lakh personnel will be on poll duty. These include 22,000 micro observers, who will monitor the polling process.

Webcasting will be arranged at 27,094 centres across the state.

A total of 2,290 candidates including 221 women and one transgender are in the fray. Polling will be held from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. However, in 13 constituencies, polling will conclude at 4 p.m. These constituencies are Sirpur, Chennur, Bellampalli, Mancherial, Asifabad, Manthani, Bhupalapally, Mulugu, Pinapaka, Yellandu, Kothagudem, Aswaraopet, and Bhadrachalam.

Counting of votes will be taken up on December 3.