Polling Begins For Jubilee Hills Assembly By-Election

Polling for the by-election to Jubilee Hills Assembly constituency here began at 7 AM on Tuesday, amid tight security arrangements.

Over 4.01 lakh voters are eligible to exercise their franchise who will decide the electoral fortunes of 58 candidates.

The contest is triangular among the ruling Congress, BJP and BRS.

According to officials, 226 polling stations have been identified as "critical" out of the total 407 polling stations.

About 1,800 police force, besides central security force personnel have been deployed for the polling. For the first time, drone surveillance is deployed at all polling locations, for centralised aerial monitoring and real-time situation analysis.

Web-casting is arranged at all polling stations for real-time monitoring.

The campaigning for the by-election, which mirrored a general election, came to an end on Sunday.

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

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.

The bypoll 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 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 canvassed 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.

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 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.

Polling would conclude at 6 PM.