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In the wake of heatwave conditions prevailing in the state, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has extended the polling hours in various assembly segments of Telangana for the Lok Sabha elections scheduled on May 13.
According to the Election Commission, the new timing for the polling is from 7 am to 6 pm, extended from the earlier 7 am to 5 pm schedule. The decision by the EC has been taken to increase voters' participation. In its notification, the Election Commission of India said, "Whereas having considered the request of the Chief Electoral Officer, Telangana to increase Hours of Poll in certain Assembly Segments of all 17 Parliamentary Constituencies in view of representations received from various political parties and contesting candidate, the prevailing situation of hot summer and heat wave in the State and to increase voters' participation, the Election Commission of India has decided to increase the hours of the poll in respect of Assembly Segments mentioned in the schedule below of all 17 Parliamentary Constituencies of Telangana." Polling for all 17 Lok Sabha seats in the state will be held on May 13 in the fourth round of the seven-phase elections. The hours of polling will be 7 am to 6 pm in the Adilabad, Peddapalle, Karimnagar, Nizamabad, Zahirabad, Medak, Malkajgiri, Secunderabad, Hyderabad, Chevella, Mahbubnagar, Nagarkurnool (SC), Nalgonda, Bhongir, Warangal (SC), Mahabubabad and Khammam. The announcement by the Election Commission came after the India Meteorological Department's (IMD) bulletin on Wednesday that said heatwave conditions will prevail in most districts of the state until May 6. The ongoing heatwave conditions have necessitated political parties to schedule their outreach programs, door-to-door campaigns, and public rallies and meetings either in the early morning or evening hours. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) (now known as the BRS) won 9 seats, the BJP secured 4 seats, the Congress won 3 seats, and the AIMIM emerged victorious in 1 seat. The voting of the first and second phases was concluded and the next round of voting will be held on May 7. The counting of votes will be held on June 4. (ANI)
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