Telangana Assembly Elections 2023 Updates: Key constituencies to watch out for in triangular fight

Telangana Assembly elections are currently underway, with the ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and the Congress anticipated to battle it out in a triangular fight.

Polling is taking place in all 119 constituencies from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., with vote counting beginning on December 3.

3.17 crore voters exercise franchise

A total of 3.17 crore voters are casting ballots to elect legislators to a 119-member state Assembly.

In total, 2,290 candidates from 109 parties, including national and regional parties, are running. There are 221 women and one transgender person among the contestants.

This time, 103 legislators are up for election again, the majority of whom are from the ruling BRS.

Some of the constituencies in the spotlight include Gajwel, Huzurabad, Korutla, Maheshwaram, Goshamahal, Mahbubnagar, LB Nagar, Warangal East and West, Bhupalapally, Khairatabad, Amberpet, Boath, Nirmal, Adilabad, Ramagundam, Peddapalli, Kothagudem, Armoor, Nizamabad Urban, Patancheru, Serilingampally, Husnabad, Dubbak, Kalwakurthy and others.

KCR running from 2 seats

K Chandrashekar Rao, popularly known as KCR, is running from two seats: his native Gajwel and Kamareddy. While he is up against BJP leader Etela Rajender in Gajewal, he is up against Congress state unit chief Revanth Reddy in Kamareddy.

Aside from competing against KCR, both Etela and Revanth Reddy are running from two seats, the BJP's Huzurabad and the Congress' best bet, Kodangal.

Korutla is one of the highly touted seats, with the BJP fielding Lok Sabha member Arvind Dharmapuri against Kalvakuntla Sanjay of BRS and Narsinga Rao Juvvadi of Congress.

Furthermore, the BRS has pitted Patlolla Sabitha Indra Reddy (Congress) against K Laxma Reddy (Congress) and Andela Sriramulu Yadav (BJP) from Maheshwaram.

T Raja fielded from Goshamahal

The Bharatiya Janata Party has fielded its Hindutva firebrand leader T Raja Singh from Goshamahal, after his suspension was revoked last month following his response to the show-cause notice issued by the party following a row sparked by his remarks against Prophet Muhammad.

T Raja received 45.18 percent of the total votes cast in 2018.

V Srinivas Goud (BRS) is running from Mahbubnagar against AP Mithun Kumar Reddy of the BJP and Yennam Srinivas Reddy of the Congress. 

In LB Nagar, the BJP's Sama Ranga Reddy will face off against the Congress' Madhu Yaskhi Goud and Devireddy Sudhir Reddy (BRS).

Bhupalapally is another important constituency, where the BRS has fielded Gandra Venkata Ramana Reddy, while the Congress and BJP have fielded Gandra Satyanarayana Rao and G Keerthi Reddy, respectively.

Korukanti Chander Patel of BRS will face Congress' Makkan Singh Raj Thakur and BJP's Kandula Sandhya Rani in Ramagundam.

The list also includes Peddapalli, where the Congress has fielded Chinthakunta Vijaya Ramana Rao against Pradeep Kumar Dugyala of the BJP and Dasari Manohar Reddy of the BRS.

BRS's Kamal Raju Lingala and Congress leader Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, who hopes to become the state's chief minister if the grand old party wins, would be competing in the Madhira Assembly constituency.

Mallu Bhatti narrowly defeated Kamal Raju in previous elections.

Furthermore, BRS has fielded Goverdhan Bajireddy in the Nizamabad Urban constituency against Bhoopathi Reddy Rekulapally (Congress) and Dinesh Kumar Kulachari (BJP).

Campaigning ended Tuesday

Campaigning for the high-stakes battle in Telangana concluded on Tuesday, with the BJP focusing on the 'Double Engine' government, while the BRS and Congress campaigned with the slogans 'Let's make Telangana from good to great' and 'Marpu Kavali, Congress Ravali,' respectively.

If KCR is re-elected, he will be the first Chief Minister from a Southern state to serve a third consecutive term in office.

In 2018, the BRS (then Telangana Rashtra Samithi) won 88 of the 119 seats and received 47.4% of the vote. The Congress came in a distant second place with only 19 seats.