Hyderabad, May 28, 2024 — The final voter turnout in Monday’s by-election to the Telangana Legislative Council from the Warangal-Khammam-Nalgonda graduates’ constituency was recorded at a robust 72.44 percent, election officials announced on Tuesday. Out of 4,63,839 registered voters, 3,36,013 participated in the voting process across the constituency, which spans 34 Assembly segments in 12 districts.

Yadadri Bhongir district led the voter turnout with an impressive 78.59 percent, while Khammam district saw the lowest turnout at 67.62 percent. By 4 p.m., when polling officially ended, 68.65 percent of voters had already cast their ballots, though the Election Commission ensured that those still in queues at the closing time were able to vote.

The Election Commission had established 605 polling centers, with the highest number of 118 centers located in Khammam district to accommodate the voters.

A total of 52 candidates contested the by-election, though the primary competition was between the Congress, the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). This by-election was necessitated by the resignation of Palla Rajeshwar Reddy of the BRS, who was elected to the Telangana Assembly from the Jangaon constituency in the November 2023 polls. Reddy had previously won the MLC seat in the 2021 election.

The ruling Congress party, boasting 33 out of the 34 MLAs in the graduates’ constituency, nominated Chintapandu Teenmaar Mallanna, who had previously run as an independent and secured second place in the 2021 election. Mallanna is competing in a three-cornered battle against Rakesh Reddy of the BRS and G. Permender Reddy of the BJP.

The counting of votes for this by-election is scheduled to begin on June 5, coinciding with the counting of votes for the Lok Sabha elections.