Campaign ends for Jubilee Hills Assembly by-poll

Hyderabad, Nov 9 (PTI) The high-octane campaign to the Jubilee Hills Assembly constituency bypoll ended on Sunday.

Polling is scheduled for November 11 and the votes will be counted on November 14.

The bypoll is necessitated by the death of BRS MLA Maganti Gopinath in June this year.

While BJP fielded Deepak Reddy, Gopinath's widow Sunita is the BRS candidate. The ruling Congress' candidate is Naveen Yadav who is also supported by the Asaduddin Owaisi-led AIMIM.

Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) Commissioner R V Karnan, who is the Hyderabad District Election Officer, told reporters that 226 polling stations have been identified as “critical” out of the total of 407 polling stations.

As many as 1,761 police force have been deployed as part of election bandobust, besides 8 companies of central paramilitary forces (CISF) will be deployed, Joint Commissioner of Police, (Law & Order, Co-ordination) Tafseer Iqubal said.

The Commissioner of Police, Hyderabad City is also deploying "striking" forces to provide sufficient security at all polling stations along with mobile squads to monitor the law and order so as to ensure peaceful conduct of the poll, the officials added.

Web casting for live streaming of poll will be arranged at all polling stations, Karnan said adding drone surveillance will also be carried out.

Given the large number of candidates (58) in the fray, EVMs consisting of 1 Control Unit, 4 Ballot Units and 1 VVPAT are provided to all the polling stations, he said.

The officials further said a total of 27 cases of model code of conduct (MCC) violations were filed.

The by-poll has assumed significance with Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy leading an intense campaign in the constituency for several days, unprecedented for a CM in a by-election.

Expressing confidence that the Congress will win the Jubilee Hills Assembly bypoll, Reddy on Sunday predicted that the BJP would lose its deposit and the BRS would be "vanquished".

Not only the chief minister, but the ruling Congress has deployed its all ministers for the campaign.

Union Coal Minister G Kishan Reddy, Union MoS (Home) Bandi Sanjay Kumar and senior BRS leaders, including K T Rama Rao, have also been canvassing in the constituency in support of their party candidates almost daily, undertaking 'padayatras', road shows and street corner meetings.

The administration has imposed a ban on liquor sales in the polling areas from 6 PM on November 9 to 6 PM on the polling day. On the counting day, the order will be enforced from 6 am on November 14 till the completion of counting of votes, officials said.

Much is at stake for the three major parties as they battle it out in the triangular contest.

Though the bypoll result would have no bearing on the stability of the Congress government, the outcome would be seen as a referendum on CM Revanth Reddy's performance.

A loss would make the government vulnerable to attacks from the aggressive BRS and the ambitious BJP.

The byelection is a do-or-die battle for BRS as it drew a blank in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, preceded by its shock defeat in the 2023 assembly polls.

Moreover, Jubilee Hills was held by BRS until its MLA Maganti Gopinath died and the failure to retain it would push the regional party to the margins in state politics.

The BJP is keen to score a win as it aims to emerge as an alternative to Congress in the 2028 assembly elections.

The Congress is banking on the recent induction of cricketer Mohammad Azharuddin into the Council of Ministers recently which is expected to have a positive impact on the Muslim voters. The Asaduddin Owaisi-led party extended support to the Congress which is expected to boost the ruling party's chances.

The total number of voters in the Jubilee Hills assembly constituency is 4.01 lakh, including 2,08,561 male, 1,92,779 female and 25 transgender voters.

Muslims, with an estimated population of one lakh in the constituency, would play a decisive role in the outcome of the bypoll. PTI GDK VVK VVK ROH