Hyderabad Polling for the high-stakes bypoll to Jubilee Hills Assembly constituency in Telangana would be held on November 11. The campaigning for the by-election, which mirrored a general election, came to an end on Sunday.
The polling would be held from 7 AM to 6 PM on November 11 and the votes will be counted on November 14. The Jubilee Hills assembly constituency has 4.01 lakh voters — over 2.08 lakh men and over 1.92 lakh women. The bypoll is necessitated by the death of BRS MLA Maganti Gopinath in June this year.
Although 58 candidates are in the fray, the contest is triangular among the ruling Congress, BJP and BRS. The BJP has fielded L Deepak Reddy, while Gopinath’s widow Sunita is the BRS candidate. The ruling Congress candidate is Naveen Yadav, who enjoys the support of Asaduddin Owaisi-led AIMIM.
According to Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) Commissioner R V Karnan, who is the Hyderabad District Election Officer, 226 polling stations have been identified as critical out of the total of 407 polling stations.
As many as 1,761 police force, besides eight companies of central paramilitary forces (CISF) would be deployed for the polling. 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.
Web casting for live streaming of poll will be arranged at all polling stations, officials said adding drone surveillance will also be carried out. 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.
Not only the chief minister, but the ruling Congress has deployed 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.
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 by-election 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 AIMIM’S support is expected to boost the ruling party’s chances. Muslims, with an estimated population of one lakh in the constituency, would play a decisive role in the outcome of the bypoll.
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.