Telangana local body polls: Early trends show lead to Congress; BRS takes second spot

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was in third place, leading in 61 wards, while other parties and independents were ahead in 59 wards.

The trends emerged after vote counting for the Telangana Municipal Corporation elections commenced earlier in the day. The police and the Election Commission of India (ECI) had made arrangements for counting at centres across Telangana.

On Wednesday, elections were held in seven Municipal Corporations and 116 Municipalities across the state, covering 414 wards in the Corporations of Kothagudem, Karimnagar, Mahabubnagar, Mancherial, Nizamabad, Nalgonda and Ramagundam, and 2,582 wards in the 116 municipalities.

District Magistrate of Warangal Satya Sharda said counting began at 8 am. She said that the counting of postal ballots was currently underway, with four tables set up in Wardhannapet and ten tables in Narsampet.

"In Warangal district, today, counting of votes began at 8 am. Right now, postal ballot counting has started and in Wardhannapet, there are 4 tables arranged and in Narsampet, 10 tables. We will issue the results as soon as counting is complete. Everything is in accordance with the Election Commission's norms. As and when the results come ward-wise, we will be declaring," Sharda told ANI.

Earlier, Telangana BJP President N Ramchander Rao expressed confidence that the party would win a significant number of seats, saying the people of Telangana were likely to give a "big mandate" to the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Speaking to ANI, Rao said, "Last time we had around 330 municipal councillors and corporators and three chairmen. But this time, I am sure the people of Telangana will give a big mandate to the Bharatiya Janata Party. We are hopeful that we will fare better and we will be the alternative to the Congress party." (ANI)