Telangana Election 2023 LIVE: Voting begins across 119 constituencies amid tight security

Telangana Assembly Election 2023 Live Coverage: After days of high-octane campaign, the stage is now set for polling today to elect 119 members to the Telangana Legislative Assembly. Voters would exercise their franchise in 35,655 polling stations set up across the state. There are 3.26 crore eligible voters in the state. According to officials, polling would be held from 7 AM to 5 PM in 106 constituencies and from 7 AM to 4 PM in 13 Left Wing Extremism (LWE) affected areas. BRS has fielded candidates in all 119 seats. As per the seat-sharing agreement, BJP and actor Pawan Kalyan-headed Jana Sena are contesting in 111 and 8 seats respectively, while Congress has given one seat to its ally CPI, and fighting from 118 others. Asaduddin Owaisi-led AIMIM has put up candidates in nine segments in the city. The BRS is keen on extending its winning run that started in 2014, while the Congress is putting up a spirited fight to win the polls having tasted defeat in 2018 and four year earlier, when the previous UPA government granted statehood to Telangana. The BJP has also left no stone unturned to come to power for the first time in the southern state.