The State Election Commission (SEC) on Wednesday officially began the municipal election procedure through its election announcement for 123 Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) which exist throughout Telangana. The first day of nominations witnessed a strong response because over 900 nomination papers were filed by candidates.
The opening day of elections saw 902 nominations which 890 candidates submitted for 2,996 ward elections. The Indian National Congress (INC) led the field with 382 nominations which was followed by Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) who nominated 258 candidates. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) established a total of 169 nominations.
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) submitted eight nominations while AIMIM submitted three nominations and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) submitted seven nominations. The recognized political parties from other states and registered political parties who operate under the Telangana State Election Commission (TGSEC) submitted 19 nominations, while 55 independent candidates also entered the fray.
The deadline for filing nominations is January 30 at 5 pm. The examination of nomination documents will take place on January 31, while candidates need to withdraw their candidacies before February 3, which is the date when SEC will release the final list of candidates.
The municipal elections will begin on February 11, when voters can cast their ballots from 7 am to 5 pm at all designated ULB polling locations.
