Hyderabad: Keeping in view the heatwave conditions prevailing in the state, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has extended the polling hours in various assembly segments of Telangana for the Lok Sabha elections scheduled on May 13.
According to the Election Commission, the new timing for the polling is from 7am to 6pm, extended from the earlier 7am to 5pm schedule. The decision by the EC has been taken to increase voters' participation.
In its notification, the Election Commission of India said, "Whereas having considered the request of the Chief Electoral Officer, Telangana to increase Hours of Poll in certain Assembly Segments of all 17 Parliamentary Constituencies in view of representations received from various political parties and contesting candidate, the prevailing situation of hot summer and heat wave in the State and to increase voters' participation, the Election Commission of India has decided to increase the hours of the poll in respect of Assembly Segments mentioned in the schedule below of all 17 Parliamentary Constituencies of Telangana."
The announcement by the Election Commission came after the India Meteorological Department's (IMD) bulletin on Wednesday that said heatwave conditions will prevail in most districts of the state until May 6. (with ANI inputs)
