Election campaign by political parties in Telangana came to a close at 05:00 p.m. yesterday, even as the State gears up to elect its own second Legislative Assembly by voting tomorrow (Friday). Along with Telangana, Rajasthan is also set to vote tomorrow to elect a new Assembly.

Ruling Telangana Rashtriya Samiti (TRS), headed by its maverick chief-minister K. Chandrasekara Rao, is locked in a heated election battle with the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), which rules the neighboring Andhra Pradesh and the BJP. Congress has allied with the TDP to win a majority in the State where 1821 candidates are battling it out for the 119 Assembly seats in contention.

Top Congress and BJP leaders indulged in no-holds-barred campaigning in the State where campaigning ended last evening. Heavy security arrangements have been put in place all over the State with a considerable amount of Central para-military forces overseeing/supervising
sensitive constituencies.

Counting of votes is to be taken up on Tuesday (11th December) and a clear trend is likely to emerge before noon on that day about who would form the next Govt.