Jubilee Hills bypoll battle nears climax as campaign ends today
HYDERABAD: The political temperature in Jubilee Hills has soared as the intense 17-day campaign for the bypoll ends on Sunday evening. The election was necessitated by the sudden demise of sitting MLA Maganti Gopinath.
The Election Commission issued the notification on October 13. Polling will be held on November 11, and counting on November 14. With 3.92 lakh voters, the high-profile constituency has become a prestige battle for all three major parties Congress, Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). As the campaign window closes, party leaders have shifted focus to poll management strategies.
Congress banks on welfare schemes
Having completed door-to-door campaigning, the Congress plans to cover every household again on the final day. Ministers and party workers are visiting localities to highlight the government’s achievements and welfare programmes over the past two years, and to seek votes.
The ruling party has also organised a massive bike rally around the constituency. Congress hopes that a win here will not only counter opposition criticism but also strengthen its development agenda, particularly major projects in Hyderabad.
Chief Minister Revanth Reddy has been leading the campaign with back-to-back roadshows and corner meetings. The organization assigned thirteen ministers to different divisions, taking flagship schemes such as Mahalakshmi and Gruhalakshmi as part of the six guarantees to voters.
Congress is banking on support from women, minorities, backward classes (BCs), and youth. It is projecting its candidate, BC leader Naveen Yadav, as a symbol of BC empowerment.
BRS fights to retain its seat
The BRS, the main opposition party, is striving to hold on to its sitting seat. Party leaders believe that a win here would demonstrate their strength in urban Hyderabad after a string of electoral defeats.
BRS working president K T Rama Rao and senior leader T Harish Rao have led an aggressive campaign for party nominee Maganti Sunitha, supported by senior figures such as Talasani Srinivas Yadav, T Padma Rao Goud, and Mahmood Ali.
The BRS has accused the Congress government of failing to deliver on its six guarantees and has distributed symbolic “pending cards” to highlight unfulfilled promises.
Although the party cadres are disappointed by the absence of BRS chief and former CM K Chandrashekar Rao, they have listed him as a star campaigner. On Sunday, BRS leaders will hold a large bike rally.
BJP hopes Modi factor will turn the tide
The BJP is also fighting hard to position itself as the main alternative to the Congress. The party sees the Jubilee Hills bypoll as crucial to consolidating its urban base ahead of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) elections.
Initially low-key, the campaign gained momentum after Union Minister G Kishan Reddy took charge personally. He has been leading house-to-house campaigns for party candidate Lankala Deepak Reddy, along with fellow Union Minister Bandi Sanjay Kumar and Andhra BJP chief P V N Madhav.
BJP leaders claim the Modi factor and nationalist appeal are resonating with voters. They also expect the three-way contest to split votes, potentially benefitting them.
Congress hopes its BC candidate will attract that segment, while BRS has fielded an upper-caste (OC) candidate and deployed BC leaders like Talasani Srinivas Yadav to connect with that base.
BJP has nominated a Reddy candidate and is relying on leaders like Eatala Rajender to appeal to BC voters.
With minorities forming nearly one-third of the electorate, all parties are eyeing their votes. Congress leaders believe that AIMIM’s support, along with Minister Mohammad Azharuddin’s presence and campaigning by AIMIM floor leader Akbaruddin Owaisi, will consolidate minority votes in their favour.
Former home minister Mahmood Ali has been campaigning for BRS in the same pockets.
