WATCH: TRS leader K Kavitha speaks to Republic after casting her vote, expresses confidence over re-election despite farmers' issues in her constituency

As the 2019 Lok Sabha elections kicked off on Thursday, April 11, Telangana along with 19 other states and Union Territories are observing polling in Phase 1 for a total of 91 seats. While the voters have been thronging the polling booths, so have the candidates themselves. In Telangana, TRS' Kalvakuntla Kavitha also cast her vote at a polling station in Pothangal in Nizamabad constituency.

Kavitha is the daughter of Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao. She is an MP and a member of TRS party. Coincidentally, she is also the first woman parliamentarian from the state.

Speaking to Republic TV, Kavitha expressed confidence that the Congress' attempt to leverage farmers' issues to defeat her wouldn't work and that she would win her re-election.

    Till 11 am, Telangana observed a 22.84% voter turnout.

Over 2.97 crore voters, including 1,504 transgenders, are exercising their franchise on April 11 for all the 17 parliamentary constituencies in Telangana. 
The state has 34,604 polling stations for Phase 1 of the elections. In the state, 443 candidates are contesting in the 17 constituencies. The main players are BJP, Congress, TRS and AIMIM.

In TRS's Godam Nagesh will be facing Shri Soyam Babu Rao of BJP in Adilabad constituency. AIMIM's leader, Asaduddin Owaisi is among the many heavyweights who are battling it out in the first phase on Thursday, he is pitted against BJP's J Bhagwant Rao in Hyderabad constituency. 

Out of the 185 candidates in Nizamabad, 178 are troubled farmers who cultivate turmeric and red 'jowar' and had filed nominations independently just to stage a protest. Because of this enormous number of candidates, the constituency faced some problems for EVMs to suffice for all, hence the Nizamabad constituency is creating history on April 11 as a record of 12 big-sized EVMs are being in the polling booths.

READ: WATCH: "I Will Win With More Margin Than Previous Elections," Says Union Minister Nitin Gadkari After Casting Vote In Nagpur

The 2019 Lok Sabha Elections will be held from April 11 to May 19 in seven phases, with the counting of votes scheduled for May 23. The results of the Lok Sabha polls will also be declared on May 23.

READ: Election 2019 Factoid: The 'Richest' And 'Poorest' Candidates In Phase -1 Of Lok Sabha Polls Are Both Fighting For The Same Seat - Chevalla, Telangana