48.43 per cent voter turnout in Telangana's Jubilee Hills by-election

Hyderabad, Nov 11 (IANS) More than 48 per cent of the voters cast their ballots in the by-election for Jubilee Hills Assembly constituency in Hyderabad on Tuesday.

According to the Election Commission, 48.43 per cent voter turnout was recorded at 6 p.m. when the polling came to an end.

However, as the voters standing in queues at polling booths were allowed to cast their votes, the final polling figures would be known after receiving final reports from the polling centres.

Barring minor incidents, the polling remained peaceful in all 407 polling stations in the constituency.

Moderate polling was seen since morning in the constituency, which covers posh Jubilee Hills and several middle-class and weaker section colonies and slums in the heart of the city.

The final polling percentage is higher than the 47.58 per cent recorded in the 2023 Assembly elections.

Little over 4 lakh voters were eligible to exercise their franchise in the byelection, caused by the death of sitting MLA Maganti Gopinath of Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS).

A total of 58 candidates are in the fray, but the main contest is between the ruling Congress party and opposition BRS and BJP.

The BRS has fielded Gopinath’s wife, Sunitha, while Naveen Yadav has entered the fray on the Congress ticket. The BJP has once again fielded Lankala Deepak Reddy.

The counting of votes will be taken up on November 14.

Tension prevailed at a few polling centres in the evening as BRS leaders, including candidate Sunitha, staged protests, alleging rigging by the ruling party. They had a heated argument with police officers.

Meanwhile, police registered three cases against several individuals, including three MLAs of the Congress, for violating the Model Code of Conduct (MCC).

Two cases have been registered at the Madhuranagar Police Station against sitting MLAs Beerla Ilaiah, Rama Chandra Naik, and Ramdas Maloth, all belonging to the Congress.

One case has been registered at the Borabanda Police Station against former MLAs Dasyam Vinay Bhaskar and Methuku Anand, both belonging to the opposition BRS.

The BRS complained to the election officials that several legislators of the ruling party who are outsiders were seen near polling stations.

It said Congress MLAs and MLCs were present in the constituency since Monday, but the Election Commission has done nothing to send them out.

For the first time, drones were deployed for surveillance at all polling stations. As many as 150 drones were used for centralised aerial monitoring and real-time situation analysis.

Hyderabad Police Commissioner V. C. Sajjanar monitored the polling process through drones from the Integrated Police Command and Control Centre.

Live webcasting was also arranged from all polling stations for peaceful polling and maintaining law and order.

--IANS

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