Process for Jubilee Hills bypolls in Hyderabad sets in motion

Hyderabad, Oct 13 (IANS) The process for the bypolls to Jubilee Hills Assembly constituency in Hyderabad was set in motion on Monday with the Returning Officer issuing the notification.

Candidates can file their nominations by October 21. Scrutiny of nominations will be held on October 22, and withdrawal of candidature will be allowed until October 24.

The polling will be held on November 11, while the counting of votes will be taken up on November 14.

The Election Commission of India (ECI) has issued guidelines for filing of nominations. Hyderabad District Election Officer R.V. Karnan said nominations will not be received on public holidays.

The by-election was necessitated following the death of sitting MLA Maganti Gopinath of BRS in June.

In the 2023 elections, Gopinath scored a hat-trick by defeating former Indian cricket captain and Congress candidate Mohammed Azharuddin by 16,337 votes.

In a multi-cornered contest, Gopinath had secured 80,549 votes while Azharuddin had polled 64,212 votes.

BJP’s L. Deepak Reddy was in third position with 25,866 votes. All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), headed by Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi, had also fielded its candidate, but he finished poor fourth with just 7,848 votes.

BRS has announced Gopinath’s wife, Maganti Sunitha, as its candidate. The Congress party has named Naveen Yadav as its candidate.

The BJP is likely to announce its candidate in a day or two.

As per the final electoral roll published recently, the constituency has 3,99,000 voters -- 2,07,382 males, 1,91,593 females and 25 third-gender voters.

In the 2023 Assembly elections, the constituency had 3,85,287. Thus, there has been an increase of 3.49 per cent in votes.

Polling for the by-election will be held across 407 polling stations in 139 locations within the constituency.

The election authorities are strictly enforcing of Model Code of Conduct in the constituency. They have so far removed 2,176 political posters, wall writings and banners. These were removed from 1,431 government properties and 745 from private premises.

Authorities have made it clear that any violations of the MCC will invite strict action, reaffirming their commitment to uphold transparency and accountability during the election process.

The by-election is being conducted under the new electoral reforms introduced by the ECI, which are being rolled out for the first time during the Bihar Assembly elections and the by-elections to eight Assembly constituencies across the country.

--IANS

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