HYDERABAD: Canvassing for the Secunderabad Cantonment Board election is set to reach a climax on Friday, when the 20-day-long campaign will end by 5 p.m. and candidates will take a day's break before voters head to the polling booths on Sunday.

In fact, trailers for the grand finale were seen on Thursday, as aspirants, drenched in the daylong drizzle, were out the whole day, busy in processions and street meetings, all pepped up with rented orchestras and colourfully dressed cultural troupes. Rallies were taken out in every ward while meetings at major junctions went on till late in the night.

Senior party leaders, who were hitherto masterminding the exercise from party offices, also jumped into the open-top jeeps and horse-driven carriages to kick up the tempo. While it was Sarvey Satyanarayana MP, who campaigned hard for his protégé Jampanna Pratap in Ward I, Telugu Desam's G. Sayanna, was seen rushing from one ward to the other in a bid to be with all the party's candidates.

Ward I also saw P. Janardhan Reddy making the rounds with M. Amarender Reddy. The Bharatiya Janata Party and the Telangana Rashtra Samiti also were not far behind in the last-minute shows of strength. Friday's pageant is expected to start by 9 a.m. Meanwhile, Returning Officer Prabhakar Reddy said the official machinery was also geared up for the big day. Some 1,200 personnel from different Government departments along with 20 officials from the MCH would coordinate between Mr. Reddy and the 218 polling stations.

Counting on Monday

With the police already making security arrangements, polling material, including ballot papers, were being dispatched to polling stations. The convergence centre for polling staff would be PG College on SP Road, which would also have two halls earmarked for the crucial counting process that would begin at 7 a.m. on Monday. "If everything goes well and no re-polling is required, the poll process is expected to be over by 7 p.m. on Monday," Mr. Reddy said.

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