States »SoutPosted at: May 2 2021 10:38AM Counting underway in Nagarjuna Sagar Assembly bypoll
Hyderabad, May 2 (UNI) The counting of votes, polled in the Nagarjuna Sagar Assembly byelection in Telangana on April 17, was underway amid tight security and Covid-19 protocols on Sunday.
Counting of votes began with postal ballots counted at 8 AM followed by the votes polled in Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs).
At 1000 hours, five rounds of counting was completed and the ruling TRS candidate Nomula Bhagat, son of the late Nomula Narsimhaiah, was reportedly leading by over 4,000 votes against his close rival and seven time MLA K Jana Reddy. BJP candidate Dr Ravi Kumar was in third place by securing more than 900 votes.
Mr Jana Reddy lost to Narasimhaiah in the 2018 assembly election.
According to Officials, the counting of votes is likely to be completed by 2 PM after 25 rounds.
About 400 officials were involved in counting process.
The mock counting was successfully completed on Saturday.
Of the 1.89 lakh votes polled out of the total 2.20 lakh voters, including 1.11 lakh eligible women electors. There are 95,000 men voters.
The counting staff was seen wearing masks inside the counting centres while armed security personnel of the special police guarded the premises.
There are 41 candidates, including three women in the fray.
About 86.18 per cent of voting was registered in the bypoll. 346 polling centres had been established.
The byelection has been necessitated following the death of Narsimhaiah, who won on the TRS ticket in 2018 Assembly election and the party is hoping to retain the seat.
The bypoll is going to be a litmus test for the ruling TRS, Congress and BJP ahead of the 2023 assembly election in the state.
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