2018 Telangana Legislative Assembly election

The Telangana Legislative Assembly election was held in Telangana on 7 December 2018 to constitute the second Legislative Assembly since the formation of the state in 2014.[2] The incumbent Telangana Rashtra Samithi, the Indian National Congress, Telangana Jana Samithi, and Telugu Desam Party are considered to be the main contestants in the election.[3] Four opposition parties in the state, the INC, the TJS, the TDP and the CPI have announced the formation of a 'Mahakootami' (Grand Alliance), with an objective of defeating the ruling TRS in the elections. However the Maha Kootami could not win a majority. Ultimately, the TRS won and formed the government once again [4]

2018 Telangana Legislative Assembly election

7 December 2018
All 119 seats to Telangana Legislative Assembly 60 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	73.74%
Majority party Minority party Third party   Leader K. Chandrashekar Rao Akbaruddin Owaisi N. Uttam Kumar Reddy Party TRS AIMIM INC Alliance - - UPA Leader since 2001 1999 2015 Leader's seat Gajwel[1] Chandrayangutta Huzurnagar Last election 63 7 22 Seats won 88 7 19 Seat change 25 3 Percentage 46.9% 2.7% 28.4%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader L. Ramana K. Laxman Debabrata Biswas Party TDP BJP AIFB Alliance UPA NDA - Leader since 2014 1997 Leader's seat Did not contest Musheerabad (lost) Did not contest Last election 15 5 0 Seats won 1 1 0 Seat change 14 4 0 Percentage 3.5% 7.1% 0.8%
CM before election K. Chandrasekhar Rao Telangana Rashtra Samithi Elected Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao Telangana Rashtra Samithi

Background

K. Chandrashekar Rao went for early elections in 2018, when he resigned nine months (on 6 September 2018) before the completion of his term.

This Election led to the alliance of Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and Indian National Congress (INC), once arch rivals, coming together as part of Praja or Maha Kuutami for the first time.

Electoral process changes (E.C.I)

Election Commission of India announced that Voter-verified paper audit trail (VVPAT) machines will be used in all 32,574 polling stations in the assembly elections in Telangana.[5] According to the final electoral rolls published on 12 October 2018, Telangana has 2,80,64,680 voters, which is less than 2,81,65,885 voters in 2014 Telangana assembly elections.[6] There were around 2,600+ transgenders in the voters list.[7]

Final voters list for Telangana Legislative Assembly election, 2018

S.No	Group of voters	Voters population
1	Male	1.38 crore
2	Female	1.35 crore
3	transgender	5,560
-	Total voters	2,80,64,680

Schedule

The date of the election is 7 December 2018 and the result will be out on 11 December 2018.[8]

Event	Date	Day
Date for Nominations	12 Nov 2018	Monday
Last Date for filing Nominations	19 Nov 2018	Monday
Date for scrutiny of nominations	20 Nov 2018	Tuesday
Last date for withdrawal of candidatures	22 Nov 2018	Thursday
Date of poll	7 Dec 2018	Friday
Date of counting	11 Dec 2018	Tuesday
Date before which the election shall be completed	13 Dec 2018	Thursday

Results

The seats and vote shares were as follows:[9]

Parties and coalitions		2018 Votes & Seats
		Votes	%	Won	+/-
	Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS)	9,700,749	46.9%	88	25
	Indian National Congress (INC)	5,883,111	28.4%	19	2
	All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM)	561,089	2.7%	7
	Telugu Desam Party (TDP)	725,845	3.5%	2	13
	Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)	1,450,456	7.1%	1	4
	All India Forward Bloc (AIFB)	159,141	1.8%	1	1
	Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP)	428,430	2.1%	0	2
	Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPM)	91,099	0.4%	0	1
	Communist Party of India (CPI)	83,215	0.4%	0	1
	Independents (IND)	673,694	3.3%	1
	None of the above (India) (NOTA)	224,709	1.1%
Total				119
Valid votes
Invalid votes
Votes cast / turnout
Abstentions
Registered voters

Parties in Elections 2018

Party	Flag	Leader	Symbol	Seats Contested	Seats won	After Election	Last Election
TRS		K. Chandrashekar Rao		119	88	88+3=91	63
INC		Nalamada Uttam Kumar Reddy		99	19	19	21
AIMIM		Akbaruddin Owaisi		8	7	7	7
TDP		L. Ramana		13	2	2-1=1	15
BJP		Dr. K. Laxman		118	1	1	5
AIFB		Debabrata Biswas		19	1	1-1=0	0
IND		Independents		All	1	1-1=0	1

See also

• 2018 elections in India
• List of constituencies of Telangana Legislative Assembly

References

1. Reporter, Staff (23 March 2014). "KCR to contest from Gajwel" – via www.thehindu.com.
2. "KCR's early election gamble gives enough ammo to TRS".
3. "Telangana elections: TOI does SWOT analysis of parties in fray".
4. "Congress, TDP, Left form grand alliance to fight Telangana election". 11 September 2018.
5. Rajeev, M. (2 November 2018). "Randomisation of poll equipment soon". The Hindu.
6. "Purified Electoral Rolls: Poll Body Chief On Deleting Telangana Voters".
7. "Only 5,560 KOJA'S in voters' list due to lack of documentation".
8. "Election Commission Issues Notification for Telangana Assembly Elections".
9. "GENERAL ELECTION TO VIDHAN SABHA TRENDS & RESULT 2018".