All arrangements have been completed for the counting of votes polled in the October 30 by-elections in Huzurabad and Badvel Assembly constituencies in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh respectively.

In Huzurabad the counting of votes will be taken up from 8 a.m. on Tuesday at SRR College. Telangana Chief Electoral Officer Shashank Goel told reporters in Hyderabad on Monday that all arrangements were in place for the counting.

Counting of postal ballots will be taken up first. Subsequently, votes registered in Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) will be counted. Two halls have been arranged for counting with 7 tables in each hall.

The counting process will be completed in 22 rounds. Each round is expected to take 20-30 minutes. The presence of a large number of candidates in the fray could lead to a delay in the declaration of results.

The CEO clarified that the video of the VVPAT unit which went viral on social media on Sunday was not among the units used in the polling. He said the video was taken when the machine was being transported but it was not used for the elections.

After the video went viral, the opposition BJP and the Congress had accused the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) of attempts to change the verdict in its favour by switching EVMs and VVPAT units.

Meanwhile, the Election Commission has prohibited any victory procession after the counting. According to the orders issued by the CEO, not more than two persons will be allowed to accompany the winning candidate or his representative while receiving the certificate of election from the Returning Officer.

In the fiercely contested by-election, 86.33 per cent of nearly 2.37 lakh voters cast their votes. The poll percentage was 2.5 per cent higher than the turnout in 2018.

Out of 2,36,837 voters, 2,05,053 cast their votes in the by-election, which was peaceful barring minor skirmishes between the TRS and BJP supporters.

A total of 30 candidates were in the fray in the by-election, caused by the resignation of Eatala Rajender after he was dropped from the state cabinet by Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao following allegations of land grabbing.

Rajender, who has been representing the Huzurabad seat since 2009, contested as a BJP candidate. He was locked in a direct fight against Gellu Srinivas Yadav of the TRS.

Election authorities in Badvel constituency in Andhra Pradesh have also made all arrangements for the counting.

The constituency, reserved for Scheduled Castes, saw 68.12 per cent polling.

A total of 2,16,139 voters were eligible to cast their votes.

Fifteen candidates tested their political fortunes in the bypoll, caused by the death of sitting MLA G. Venkatasubbaiah of the ruling YSR Congress Party (YSRCP).

The YSRCP fielded his wife Dasari Sudha, who was locked in a three-cornered contest against the Congress party’s M. Kamalamma and the BJP’s P. Suresh.

The main opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) stayed away from the contest in line with its tradition of supporting the family members of the deceased MLA.

Nominations of 28 candidates have been rejected in Telangana’s Huzurabad Assembly constituency and Andhra Pradesh’s Badvel Assembly constituency, where by-elections are scheduled to be held on October 30.

Nomination papers of 19 candidates were rejected in Huzurabad. Telangana Chief Electoral Officer Shashank Goel said the nominations of 42 candidates were found valid.

Nominations of the candidates of all major parties were found in order during the scrutiny by election authorities. They include Gellu Srinivas Reddy of the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), Eatala Rajender of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Venkat Narsing Rao Balmoor of Congress.

A total of 61 candidates had filed their nominations. There are 31 independent candidates among 42 contestants whose papers were found valid.

The by-election was necessitated by the resignation of Rajender from the Assembly after he was dropped from the state Cabinet by Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao following allegations of land encroachment.

Rajender, who also quit the TRS, joined the BJP in June after the saffron party promised to field him as its candidate.

Meanwhile, in Badvel constituency of neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, nominations of nine candidates were rejected during scrutiny. The Election Commission found nominations of 18 candidates, including those of the main political parties, in order.

The by-election was caused by the death of sitting legislator Dr G. Venkatasubbaiah of the ruling YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) in March this year. The YSRCP has fielded his wife Dasari Sudha.

The BJP has fielded Punathala Suresh while former MLA P. M. Kamalamma is contesting on Congress ticket. The main opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) is staying away from the contest.

As per the poll scheduled announced by the Election Commission, the last date for withdrawal of nominations in both Huzurabad and Badvel is October 13.

Polling will be held on October 30 while counting will be taken up on November 2.

The Election Commission of India has decided to keep the byelections for the Huzuarabad Assembly seat in Telangana and Badvel Assemly seat in Andhra Pradesh on hold.

The EC released the schedule for holding bypolls for two Assembly seats in West Bengal and one Assembly seat in Odisha on Saturday (today).

The EC stated that the Chief Secretaries of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh expressed the opinions of their respective state governments that it is advisable to hold bypolls in AP and TS after the festival season when the EC conducted video conference with Chief Secretaries and DGPs of all States.

The festival season ends with Diwali on November 4. With this, the EC gave indications that the bypolls for Huzurabad and Badvel will be held only after Diwali in November.

The EC has decided to hold bypoll for the Bhabanipur Assembly seat in West Bengal from where West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has to get elected within six months before November 5.

The election will be held on September 30 and the result will be announced on October 3.