Telangana: Former Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu, wife cast vote in Hyderabad

Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], May 13 (ANI): Former Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu and his wife Usha Naidu cast their votes for the fourth phase of the ongoing Lok Sabha elections at a polling booth in Hyderabad's Jubilee Hills on Monday.
The Lok Sabha elections in Telangana are witnessing a triangular contest among the ruling Congress, opposition BRS, and BJP, with a total of 525 candidates in the fray.
The constituencies in the fray are Adilabad, Peddapalle, Karimnagar, Nizamabad, Zahirabad, Medak, Malkajgiri, Secunderabad, Hyderabad, Chevella, Mahbubnagar, Nagarkurnool, Nalgonda, Bhongir, Warangal, Mahabubabad, Khammam.
The most important electoral battles in Telangana include Hyderabad, Secunderabad, Karim Nagar, and Chevella.
Madhavi Latha is pitted against a formidable opponent in the form of four-time Lok Sabha MP and AIMIM chief, Asaduddin Owaisi, from Hyderabad Lok Sabha Constituency and BRS' Gaddam Srinivas Yadav. This is the first time that the BJP has fielded a female candidate from the Hyderabad constituency.
Hyderabad has been an AIMIM stronghold, with Owaisi winning the seat for four terms since 2004.
The Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS) in 2019 won 9 of the 17 seats. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won four seats, Congress 3 and Asaduddin Owaisi was the only AIMIM candidate to emerge victorious from his Hyderabad constituency.
Voting for the fourth phase of the Lok Sabha elections in 96 Parliamentary Constituencies across nine states and one Union Territory began on Monday at 7:00 am.
Of the 96 Lok Sabha seats, 25 are from Andhra Pradesh, 17 from Telangana, 13 from Uttar Pradesh, 11 from Maharashtra, eight each from Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal, five from Bihar, four each from Jharkhand and Odisha, and one from Jammu and Kashmir.
"A total of 1,717 candidates from 10 States/UTs are contesting elections in phase 4 of the Lok Sabha polls," according to the Election Commission of India.
The Election Commission on Sunday informed that polling time in certain assembly segments of 17 Parliamentary Constituencies of Telangana was increased by the Commission (from 7 am to 6 pm) to increase voters' participation.
The fourth phase is witnessing key contests in various constituencies. Leaders such as AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, West Bengal Congress chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, TMC leader Mahua Moitra, BJP leader Giriraj Singh, JDU's Rajiv Ranjan Singh (Lalan Singh), TMC leaders Shatrughan Sinha and Yusuf Pathan.
As per the IMD forecast, there is no significant concern regarding the hot weather conditions for the polling in phase 4.
"The weather forecast indicates that the Parliamentary Constituencies going for polls are likely to experience normal to below normal temperatures (+-2 degrees) and there will be no heat wave-like conditions in these areas on the polling day. However, for the convenience of voters, meticulous arrangements have been made at all polling stations, including facilities like water, shamiyana and fans," the Election Commission said.
So far, till phase 3 of the Lok Sabha polls, polling has concluded smoothly and peacefully in 283 Lok Sabha seats.
The counting of votes will be held on June 4. (ANI)