Jubilee Hills bypoll: Congress, BJP yet to announce candidates as BRS surges ahead

The Jubilee Hills by-election, necessitated by the demise of MLA Maganti Gopinath, has seen the BRS take an early lead by announcing Maganti Sunitha as its candidate. Meanwhile, Congress and BJP are yet to finalize their nominees amid internal rivalries and strategic delays.

Hyderabad: The Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the two national parties, are yet to announce their candidates for the Jubilee Hills by-election, necessitated by the demise of sitting MLA Maganti Gopinath, even as the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) has already launched its campaign.

Internal bickering and lack of coordination among leaders are said to be the main reasons behind the delay by the national parties. While both claim confidence in winning the byelection convincingly, the ground situation appears otherwise.

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In the Congress, several leaders are aspiring for the ticket and are leaving no stone unturned to establish their presence. Former Minister KLN Yadav’s daughter-in-law Kanjerla Vijaya Lakshmi is among the aspirants.

Even before the party could finalise its candidate, banners, flexies and hoardings have been put up across the constituency.

Former MP Anjan Kumar Yadav conducted a free spectacle distribution programme, while another aspirant, Naveen Yadav, distributed stationery kits to students. Anjan Kumar Yadav has also been quite vocal against other leaders who are not in favour of his candidature, including Transport Minister Ponnam Prabhakar.

Amid this rivalry, the Congress leadership fears that lack of unity among leaders could weaken its chances of the election.

Meanwhile, the BJP leadership too is yet to begin the process of finalising its candidate. Party leaders including Hyderabad Central district president Lankala Deepak Reddy, senior leader Keerthi Reddy and former GHMC corporator Kilari Manohar are said to be in the race for the ticket.

Following Goshamahal MLA T Raja Singh’s resignation from the party, the Jubilee Hills byelection has become crucial for the BJP, which wants to demonstrate its strength in the capital region. With GHMC elections scheduled in January, the party hopes a strong performance here will build momentum and lift the cadre’s morale.

On Saturday, the party announced a panel to decide on the candidate, though it has not given a timeline for when the selection process would be completed.

The BRS, on the other hand, had held frequent meetings with party workers under the leadership of party working president KT Rama Rao, with party president K Chandrashekhar Rao announcing on September 26 itself the name of Maganti Sunitha, widow of Maganti Gopinath as the candidate.

The party, buoyed by surveys, which showed the BRS with an upper hand, and the ground situation, which has been unfavourable to the ruling Congress, has already launched its campaign in the constituency.

 

Election notification

Speculation is rife that the Election Commission of India will announce the schedule for the Jubilee Hills byelection along with that of the Bihar Assembly elections. Though no official word has been given, there is talk that the dates may be fixed around Diwali.

Chief Electoral Officer C Sudarshan Reddy has already released the final electoral rolls for the constituency, which has 3,99,000 voters. The polling will be conducted at 407 polling stations spread across 139 locations.