Telangana, November 9: The Telangana state Election Commission (EC) has made it mandatory for the candidates across political parties to publish criminal records (if any) against them at least thrice in a "widely circulated" newspaper. The assembly elections in the state of Telangana are scheduled to take place on December 7.  Full Schedule of Telangana Assembly Polls 2018.

Setting a precedent, the Telangana state Election Commission made the official announcement to the effect on Thursday evening. The EC said that candidates will now have to make public the criminal cases against them even at the time of electioneering, adding that the candidate will have to at least publish criminal records against them thrice in print and electronic media.

Meanwhile, the 'mahagathbandhan' in Telangana has inked the pre-poll pact ahead of the upcoming assembly elections, scheduled on December 7, 2018. As per the seat-sharing arrangement, the Congress would be contesting on 93 constituencies, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) in 14, Telangana Jan Samithi in 8 and the Communist Party of India (CPI) in 3. Telangana Assembly Elections 2018: 'Mahagathbandhan' Inks Pre-Poll Pact - Congress to Contest on 93 Seats, TDP 14, TJS 8 & CPI 3.

The 119-member Telangana assembly witnesses a three-cornered contested between the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), the Congress-TDP-TJS-Left alliance and an aggressive Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). All eyes will now be on how the political parties and candidates deal with the Telangana state EC's latest instruction making it mandatory for candidates to make public criminal records against them at least thrice before going to polls.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 09, 2018 09:11 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).