EC rejects 80 nominations in Jubilee Hills bypoll scrutiny
HYDERABAD: The scrutiny of nominations for the Jubilee Hills Assembly bypoll turned tense on Wednesday at the returning officer’s (RO) office in Shaikpet after several candidates lodged complaints against each other.
Amid objections and clarifications, the RO cleared the papers of Congress candidate V Naveen Yadav, Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) nominee Maganti Sunitha Gopinath, and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) aspirant Lankala Deepak Reddy.
A total of 211 candidates filed 321 sets of nominations, the process continuing till 2am on Tuesday night. Those who submitted papers included activists representing Pharma City and Regional Ring Road (RRR) project-affected farmers, as well as leaders from Mala community joint action committees.
Election officials implemented a token system for the scrutiny, calling each candidate in turn to examine their papers.
During the process, Naveen Yadav raised objections over certain documents filed by BRS nominee Sunitha, referring to her family details. The returning officer dismissed these, saying they were outside the scope of the election authority.
Soon after, Sunitha’s counsel pointed out that Naveen Yadav had left some columns blank in Form-26, noting that similar omissions had led to the rejection of independent candidates’ nominations. The exchange caused brief tension at the RO’s office before the officer accepted both candidates’ papers.
Withdrawal of nominations will be accepted till October 24.
Nomination rejections and social media row
Several nominations were rejected due to missing documents or incomplete forms. Four sets filed by Salman Khan, who has been engaged in social work in Borabanda, Shaikpet, and Rahmatnagar, were rejected for irregularities.
By Wednesday night, scrutiny of 232 nomination sets from 144 candidates had been completed. Of these, 126 nominations from 80 candidates were rejected, while 106 nominations from 64 candidates were accepted.
Meanwhile, a letter circulating on social media claimed that Pradyumna, son of Gopinath’s first wife Malini, had complained to the Election Commission (EC) that his father and Sunitha were in a live-in relationship and not legally married, alleging misrepresentation in Sunitha’s nomination.
The EC sought clarification from its officials, who confirmed receipt of the complaint but said the matter was beyond the Commission’s jurisdiction, advising that such issues be settled in court.
Sunitha declined to comment on the letter, saying: “People know the facts. False rumours are being spread because my candidature has disturbed my rivals.” She added that all four of her nomination sets had been accepted.
‘Baseless objections by BRS’: Naveen Yadav
Congress candidate V Naveen Yadav alleged that BRS raised “baseless objections” to his papers. “All my three sets of nominations were accepted,” he said, adding that BRS was spreading false propaganda on social media. “I never made any remarks about anyone’s personal matters,” he clarified.
