Here are some of the reactions to the apex court's decision.
About 2.34 crore voters, spread across 78 assembly segments of the 243-strong assembly, will decide the fates of 1,204 candidates, including the Speaker and 12 members of the state cabinet.
All eyes are now on 13 Independents and 16 MLAs from smaller parties.
Before the elections, concerns have been raised in the country over the participation of hardline Islamist groups in large numbers.
Tension prevailed in areas surrounding the historic Charminar in Hyderabad on Friday after suspected Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul Muslimeen supporters pelted stones at police protesting the arrest of MLA Akbaruddin Owaisi for his alleged hate speech, injuring five policemen and some mediapersons.
The woman, identified as Amulya Leona, asked people to shout with her 'Pakistan Zindabad' thrice after the organisers of the event under the banner of 'Save Constitution' invited her to address the gathering soon after Owaisi came on the stage.
Asaduddin Owaisi, the member of Parliament from Hyderabad, talks to Sheela Bhatt about his worries over the way Telangana is being created.
Nitish Kumar will be the chief minister only till the time the BJP wishes, points out Ramesh Menon.
The Telangana Rashtra Samiti had backed the NDA on demonetisation, GST and in the elections to the post of President and Vice-President during its last term.
According to Owaisi, the CAA was only made towards making India a Hindu Rashtra.
'They take each and every election with seriousness.' 'No other political party has that kind of cadre who is strongly aligned with the reason, motto and ideology of their party.'
The RJD leader, who is the Mahagathbandhan's chief ministerial face, said that if voted to power, providing jobs to unemployed youth would be his topmost priority.
It is likely that the party's allies in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, two of the five states going to the polls in April-May, might insist on allocating fewer seats than they did in 2016, reports Archis Mohan.
Left behind after elections will be the Biharis with their stagnant conditions of poor education, poor health infrastructure, poverty, unemployment, division of society and the aftermath of coronavirus. What will remain is the Bihari tenacity, observes Asmita Bihari.
"We are going to contest assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh," All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen chief Asaduddin Owaisi said.
We should be ready beforehand and I agree that if we have to go for alliances then the formalities of those alliances should be completed as soon as possible
A local court on Tuesday issued a non-bailable warrant against Majlis-e-Itehadul Muslimeen legislator Akbaruddin Owaisi after he failed to appear before it in a hate speech case lodged against him at Nirmal in Adilabad district.
'When our forefathers were fighting for Independence from British rule, Jinnah was pushing for the creation of an Islamic state'
The court also observed that late Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Ashok Singhal wanted to save the structure because Ram idols were inside.
While the assembly elections are being seen as largely a contest between the NDA and the Grand Alliance, the state has been witness to mushrooming of "morchas" (fronts) which may queer the pitch for the lead players in a tight contest.
Strongly reacting to the alleged communal statement of Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul Muslimeen Member of Legislative Assembly from Andhra Pradesh Akbaruddin Owaisi, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday demanded his immediate arrest and expressed its anger at the Centre's 'deafening silence' on the issue.
A complaint was on Wednesday filed against All India Muslim Majlis-e-Mushawarat Member of Legislative Assembly Akbaruddin Owaisi for his alleged inflammatory speech made in December in Andhra Pradesh.
Amjed Ullah Khan, who carried out investigations of his own and helped rescue 15 women from Hyderabad, tells Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com how the women get trapped in an underground slave market that 'sells' them to employers who force them to work for less or no pay and often under inhuman conditions.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday staged a demonstration opposing any visit by All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslemin chief Akbaruddin Owaisi, who is facing charges of making hate speech, or his brother to Aligarh, claiming that it would breach peace in Uttar Pradesh.
The Karnataka high court on Friday stayed for three weeks proceedings against Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen legislator Akbaruddin Owaisi in a lower court in Bangalore in connection with a complaint filed against him for his alleged hate speech.
A local court on Friday granted bail to Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul Muslimeen legislator Akbaruddin Owaisi in connection with a hate speech case registered against him.
The voice of jailed Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul Muslimeen legislator Akbaruddin Owaisi, facing charges of sedition and waging war against the nation for his alleged "hate speech," was on Tuesday recorded in Nizamabad town of Andhra Pradesh even as a court extended his judicial remand till February 26.
A court in Nizamabad district of Andhra Pradesh on Thursday extended until February 12 the judicial remand of All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen Member of Legislative Assembly Akbaruddin Owaisi in a 'hate' speech case.
The Nizamabad police is on Friday interrogating Majlis-e-Ittehadul legislator Akbaruddin Owaisi, facing sedition charges for his alleged "hate speech" in December last year, police said.
The Bharatiya Janata Party has accused the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen, which withdrew support from the ruling Congress government in Andhra Pradesh on Monday, of pursuing a politics of blackmail and adopting undemocratic methods. State BJP president G Kishan Reddy refuted MIM president Asaduddin Owaisi's allegation of connivance between the Congress government and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh Bharatiya Janata Party combine.
Congress on Monday claimed that the United Progressive Alliance government is "strong and stable" despite the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen becoming the third constituent to withdraw support after Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress and Babualal Marandi's Jharkhand outfit.
A court in Medak district of Andhra Pradesh Wednesday rejected the bail plea of Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen MLA Akbaruddin Owaisi in a 2005 case where he is accused of preventing government officials from performing their duty.
Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen chief and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi was on Thursday granted bail in connection with a 2005 case against him for allegedly obstructing the then Medak district collector and other officials from discharging their duties.
A local court on Wednesday dismissed the bail plea of All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen chief and Hyderabad Member of Parliament Asaduddin Owaisi for the second time in two days in connection with a 2005 case against him.
Another probe has been ordered against Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen MLA Akbaruddin Owaisi over an alleged hate speech.
According to television reports, MIM supporters attacked media vans in Adilabad, where a shutdown is being observed on Wednesday.
As authorities are yet to take action against MIM leader Akbaruddin Owaisi for his repeated hate-speeches, Rediff.com takes a look at the firebrand leader's journey to national 'notoriety'.
Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen MLA Akbaruddin Owaisi, who is facing allegations of making inflammatory speeches against a particular community, would surrender before the law, his brother and party president Asaduddin Owaisi said on Saturday.
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