LS polls: Shuttler Jwala Gutta casts vote with family in Hyderabad

Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], May 13 (ANI): India shuttler Jwala Gutta cast her vote at a polling booth in Hyderabad during the fourth phase of the ongoing Lok Sabha elections on Monday.

She was accompanied by her family members. They cast their votes at Gati Government High School polling station.

After casting her vote, Jwala said, “Voting is our right. People should come and vote.”

“This is also a message to those in power that we can bring you to power and if you are not doing the right thing for the country and society, then we can also bring you down,” she said while speaking to ANI.

Gutta also shared pictures from the polling booth after casting her vote. She could be seen flaunting her inked finger along with her family.

“Vote our right Vote our duty,” Jwala captioned her post on microblogging site ‘X’, encouraging citizens to fulfill their voting duties.

Polling is underway for all 17 parliamentary constituencies in Telangana under the fourth phase of Lok Sabha elections. The constituencies in the fray are Adilabad, Peddapalle, Karimnagar, Nizamabad, Zahirabad, Medak, Malkajgiri, Secunderabad, Hyderabad, Chevella, Mahbubnagar, Nagarkurnool, Nalgonda, Bhongir, Warangal, Mahabubabad, and Khammam. The most important electoral battles in Telangana include Hyderabad, Secunderabad, Karim Nagar, and Chevella.

There is a triangular contest among the ruling Congress, opposition BRS, and BJP, with a total of 525 candidates in the fray, an average of 31 candidates for each constituency. This electoral event holds significant importance as it follows closely on the heels of the assembly polls held in December 2023, where the K Chandrashekar Rao-led BRS faced a setback, losing the state to Congress. Since the formation of Telangana in 2013, the BRS has been the dominant political force in the state.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha election, the BRS won nine of 17 seats, while the BJP and Congress bagged four and three seats, respectively.

Voting for the fourth phase of the Lok Sabha elections in 96 parliamentary seats across 10 states and Union Territory began on Monday morning. Polling for all 175 seats of the State Legislative Assembly of Andhra Pradesh and 28 seats of the State Legislative Assembly of Odisha also started simultaneously with the Lok Sabha polls.

So far, till phase 3 of the Lok Sabha polls, polling has concluded smoothly and peacefully in 283 Lok Sabha seats. The next rounds of voting will kick-start on May 20 and May 25, and finally end next month on June 1. The counting of votes will be held on June 4.