<p>Polling got underway on Tuesday in the high-stakes Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) election following a vociferous and often acrimonious campaign.</p>.<p>The voting for the 150-ward GHMC began at 7 am and it would be ending at 6 pm.</p>.<p>A total of 74,44,260 voters will exercise their franchise using ballot papers to elect their representatives.</p>.<p>Union MoS (Home) G Kishan Reddy, ruling TRS working president and Telangana Municipal Administration Minister K T Rama Rao and actor-turned-politician Chiranjeevi were among the early voters.</p>.<p>Talking to reporters, both Kishan Reddy and Rama Rao appealed to the electors to vote without fail.</p>.<p>The total number of contesting candidates is 1,122.</p>.<p>The Telangana State Election Commission (SEC) has made elaborate arrangements for the balloting process by deploying 48,000 (including reserve) polling personnel and 52,500 strong police force.</p>.<p>The commission had decided to conduct the election with ballot papers after obtaining the views of major political parties and the Health Department in view of the COVID-19 pandemic and taking into consideration various relevant issues, it had said.</p>.<p>The commission has also made special arrangements in view of the pandemic.</p>.<p>The main contest in the poll is among the ruling TRS, opposition BJP and the Congress. The run-up to the polling witnessed a high decibel and often acrimonious campaign.</p>.<p>Buoyed by its victory in the recent bypoll to Dubbak Assembly constituency, the BJP conducted a powerful campaign to win the GHMC polls, to boost its chances in the assembly elections in 2023.</p>.<p>Top leaders, including Union Home Minister Amit Shah, party president J P Nadda, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Union ministers Prakash Javadekar, Smriti Irani and MoS (Home) G Kishan Reddy, who is Lok Sabha member from Secunderabad, party MP and BJYM national president Tejaswi Surya participated in the campaign.</p>.<p>The BJP highlighted the TRS' "alliance" with the AIMIM and sought votes to provide clean and transparent governance in the city. The TRS, however, denied any alliance with the AIMIM.</p>.<p>The TRS' campaign was led by its working president and state Municipal Administration Minister K T Rama Rao, while party supremo and Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao addressed a public meeting.</p>.<p>A bad loss in the GHMC elections could dent the TRS' image and bolster the opposition to step up its campaign against the ruling party.</p>.<p>The Congress campaign was led by its state president N Uttam Kumar Reddy and working president A Revanth Reddy and other senior leaders.</p>.<p>Once a major force in the state, but marginalised now, the TDP sought to revive its fortunes highlighting the development witnessed in the city, including in the IT sector, during N Chandrababu Naidu''s regime as chief minister in undivided Andhra Pradesh.</p>.<p>The TRS and BJP leaders were engaged in a war of words attacking each other.</p>.<p>The allegations continued on Monday as well with the BJP saying the ruling TRS indulged in unfair means and misuse of power to win the election.</p>.<p>Counting of votes will be taken up on December 4. </p>
<p>Polling got underway on Tuesday in the high-stakes Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) election following a vociferous and often acrimonious campaign.</p>.<p>The voting for the 150-ward GHMC began at 7 am and it would be ending at 6 pm.</p>.<p>A total of 74,44,260 voters will exercise their franchise using ballot papers to elect their representatives.</p>.<p>Union MoS (Home) G Kishan Reddy, ruling TRS working president and Telangana Municipal Administration Minister K T Rama Rao and actor-turned-politician Chiranjeevi were among the early voters.</p>.<p>Talking to reporters, both Kishan Reddy and Rama Rao appealed to the electors to vote without fail.</p>.<p>The total number of contesting candidates is 1,122.</p>.<p>The Telangana State Election Commission (SEC) has made elaborate arrangements for the balloting process by deploying 48,000 (including reserve) polling personnel and 52,500 strong police force.</p>.<p>The commission had decided to conduct the election with ballot papers after obtaining the views of major political parties and the Health Department in view of the COVID-19 pandemic and taking into consideration various relevant issues, it had said.</p>.<p>The commission has also made special arrangements in view of the pandemic.</p>.<p>The main contest in the poll is among the ruling TRS, opposition BJP and the Congress. The run-up to the polling witnessed a high decibel and often acrimonious campaign.</p>.<p>Buoyed by its victory in the recent bypoll to Dubbak Assembly constituency, the BJP conducted a powerful campaign to win the GHMC polls, to boost its chances in the assembly elections in 2023.</p>.<p>Top leaders, including Union Home Minister Amit Shah, party president J P Nadda, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Union ministers Prakash Javadekar, Smriti Irani and MoS (Home) G Kishan Reddy, who is Lok Sabha member from Secunderabad, party MP and BJYM national president Tejaswi Surya participated in the campaign.</p>.<p>The BJP highlighted the TRS' "alliance" with the AIMIM and sought votes to provide clean and transparent governance in the city. The TRS, however, denied any alliance with the AIMIM.</p>.<p>The TRS' campaign was led by its working president and state Municipal Administration Minister K T Rama Rao, while party supremo and Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao addressed a public meeting.</p>.<p>A bad loss in the GHMC elections could dent the TRS' image and bolster the opposition to step up its campaign against the ruling party.</p>.<p>The Congress campaign was led by its state president N Uttam Kumar Reddy and working president A Revanth Reddy and other senior leaders.</p>.<p>Once a major force in the state, but marginalised now, the TDP sought to revive its fortunes highlighting the development witnessed in the city, including in the IT sector, during N Chandrababu Naidu''s regime as chief minister in undivided Andhra Pradesh.</p>.<p>The TRS and BJP leaders were engaged in a war of words attacking each other.</p>.<p>The allegations continued on Monday as well with the BJP saying the ruling TRS indulged in unfair means and misuse of power to win the election.</p>.<p>Counting of votes will be taken up on December 4. </p>