The Bharat Rashtra Samithi of K Chandrasekhar Rao, the state’s two-time Chief Minister, is hoping for a third consecutive term, buoyed by its social welfare programmes that had something for everyone.  
As the ‘founding father’ of Telangana – sliced out of Andhra Pradesh in 2014 – the BRS also hopes to have the loyalty points that could see it through in this election.
But the Congress, its morale boosted by the victory in neighbouring Karnataka, has been in fighting mode under its new young chief Revanth Reddy.  
The party claims it has closed its gap with the BRS – created after the formation of Telangana and the death of its strongman of undivided Andhra Pradesh YS Rajasekhar Reddy — and is hoping to gain following the BJP’s corruption allegations against the Chief Minister.  
The BJP allegations come following Congress claims that the BRS and the BJP are secretly in collusion. The party had taken full advantage of the perception formed after Mr Rao’s daughter, K Kavitha, was not arrested by Central agencies despite her name figuring in the Delhi liquor scam.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statement that Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao had approached him seeking a spot in the NDA, had added to the Congress’s advantages.
The BJP move to change its state chief Bandi Sanjay with soft-spoken Kishan Reddy on the eve of polls was also a move questioned by many. The party, desperate for a nice in Telangana after the loss  of Karnataka, has tied up with Jana Sena of actor-politician Pawan Kalyan.
Chief Minister KCR heads the list of top battles today. He is fighting on two fronts – against Congress’s Revanth Reddy in Kamareddy and the BJP’s Etala Rajender of the BJP in his home turf Gajwel.  
The other keenly watched contests would include M Krishna Rao of the BRS versus M Prem Kumar of the Jana Sena Party in Kukatpally; the triangular battle in Malkajgiri between Mynampally Hanumath Rao, who recently switched from the BRS to the Congress, BJP’s N Ramachander and BRS’s M Rajashekhar Reddy.
Telangana is the last of the five states to vote in this round of election that is seen as semi-final before next year’s Lok Sabha polls. The counting of votes for all five states will take place on Sunday.

A senior Hamas official said on Wednesday the Islamist movement was ready to release all the Israeli soldiers it is holding captive in exchange for all Palestinian prisoners held in Israel, amid negotiations to extend a truce over Gaza.

Hamas official and former Gaza health minister Bassem Naim said the group was going through “hard negotiations” to extend a cessation of hostilities that was scheduled to end early Thursday after a six-day pause in fighting.

“We are ready to release all soldiers in exchange for all our prisoners,” Naim told a press conference in Cape Town, during a visit to South Africa.  

Gaza’s Hamas group took about 240 captives from southern Israel in an unprecedented October 7 attack that Israeli officials say killed around 1,200 people, most of them civilians.

In response, Israel has vowed to eliminate Hamas and has unleashed an air and ground campaign that the Hamas government says has killed nearly 15,000 people, also mostly civilians.

Sixty Israeli hostages and 180 Palestinian prisoners have been released under the truce agreement to the joy of their relatives.

Among the hostages still held by Hamas are soldiers who are excluded from the exchange agreement, and the Islamist movement is likely to use then as an important bargaining chip.

In 2011, more than 1,000 Palestinians were exchanged for Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who had been taken prisoner by Hamas five years earlier.

Activist groups say there are more than 7,000 Palestinians in Israeli jails, many of them far more prominent than the youngsters and women freed so far.

Hamas had already in October demanded Israel release all Palestinian prisoners but at the time offered to let go all hostages in exchange.

The new proposal came as efforts intensified to extend the halt in hostilities, with a source close to the Hamas group saying Hamas was willing to extend the truce by another four days and release more Israeli hostages.

“We are trying with the mediators to negotiate a permanent ceasefire,” Naim said.

Earlier Israel’s army said it was investigating a report by Hamas’s armed wing that a 10-month-old baby hostage, his four-year-old brother and their mother had all been killed in Gaza.

“We have confirmed two to three weeks ago that 60 Israelis have been killed under Israeli bombardment and are still under the rubble,” Naim said.

“The woman and her two children are among them, I can confirm that.”

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

According to the Election Commission, Telangana has seen a voter turnout of 20.64 percent till 11 am.

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Telangana Election: Get Latest News on Telangana Assembly Election along with Updates on Schedule and Result Date | Hindustan Times 

According to the Election Commission, Telangana has seen a voter turnout of 20.64 percent till 11 am.