Telangana Asssembly Election 2018: Notification for polls to be issued today, says chief electoral officer

Hyderabad: Kicking off the formal poll process, a gazette notification for elections to the Telangana Legislative Assembly would be issued on Monday. Nominations would be accepted after the notification is issued, Chief Electoral Officer Rajat Kumar had said. The 119-member Assembly was dissolved on 6 September on the recommendation of the K Chandrasekhar Rao-led government, more than eight months ahead of the expiry of its term, paving the way for early elections. [caption id=“attachment_5186411” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. PTI[/caption] Elections are scheduled to be held on 7 December and the counting would take place on 11 December. The Election Commission on Friday imposed a near month-long ban on holding exit polls beginning 12 November in the five poll-bound states including Telangana. A notification issued by the poll panel said that between 7 am of 12 November and 5.30 pm of 7 December, “conducting any exit poll and publishing or publicising the result of exit poll by means of print or electronic media or in any other manner shall be prohibited”. Caretaker Chief Minister and TRS supremo K Chnadrasekhar Rao handed over B-Forms to party’s contesting candidates on Sunday after a brainstorming session with them. He is expected to file his nomination from Gajwel constituency in Medak district on 14 November. In her tweet, TRS MP and CM’s daughter Kavitha said, “honourable KCR garu giving away the B-form to the MLAs of my parliament constituency. We seek the blessings of T-people for the success of all our mlas.” The TRS has already announced its candidates for 107 segments, including 105 at one go within minutes of the Assembly dissolution, giving it a jump-start to the campaign and stunning the opposition. The main opposition Congress forged an electoral pact with the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) headed by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, the Telangana Jana Samiti (TJS) founded by retired Osmania University Political Science Professor Kodandaram and the Communist Party of India. However the “Grand Alliance” is yet to announce the list of the contesting candidates. BJP had so far announced 66 nominees in two tranches.