Kursi kis ka? BRS or Congress?

Hyderabad: With exit poll results giving mixed predictions ranging from clear majority to Congress to hung Assembly, the BRS and Congress are getting ready for political manoeuvrings once the election results are announced.

While the Election Commission has made elaborate arrangements for the counting of votes, the BRS and Congress have also worked out elaborate plans to ensure that there was no poaching from either side. The leaders of BRS and Congress were busy holding meetings both with leaders and the contestants as well and were issuing clear instructions on the Dos and Don'ts on Sunday.

The counting of votes will be taken up at 8 am and it will be clear whether the voters prefer BRS government for a third term or the six guarantees by the Congress or the BJP's BC chief minister 'mantra' wooed the electors or will there be a fractured verdict. The Congress party is learnt to have booked over 50 rooms in Taj Krishna and asked all its candidates to reach Hyderabad by Sunday evening. The BRS too has asked all the candidates to reach Hyderabad soon after their result was announced. Buoyed by the exit polls results, former AICC president Rahul Gandhi held a zoom meeting with all senior TPCC leaders on Saturday to reviewhow the state unit was prepared for Sunday's most thrilling results.

While 2,290 contestants were in the fray, all eyes are now on Gajwel from where BRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao is contesting.

This time he is pitted against his friend-turned-foe Etela Rajender. Kamareddy is another constituency from where KCR is contesting against TPCC president A Revanth Reddy. Revanth like KCR is contesting from another constituency Kodangal as well.

The other most important candidates in BRS are KT Rama Rao from Sircilla, BJP Lok Sabha members Bandi Sanjay Kumar, D Arvind and Soyam Bapu Rao. The Asaduddin Owaisi-led AIMIM has put up candidates in nine segments in the city. Several

segments witnessed triangular contests making them keenly watched ones.

Chief Electoral Officer Vikas Raj told reporters that the counting will start first with postal ballots at 8 am and from 8.30 am counting of votes in EVMs will begin.

Every counting centre will have 14 counting tables except for six constituencies where the number of polling stations is more than 500 and at such places 28 counting tables will be used.

He said every counting centre will have three cordons consisting of central security forces and state armed police force on the day of counting.