Maganti Sunitha alleges rigging, rowdyism in Jubilee Hills bypoll

BRS candidate Maganti Sunitha alleged widespread rigging, intimidation and rowdyism by the Congress in the Jubilee Hills bypoll, claiming the election was undemocratic and that the BRS had a moral victory. She also accused Congress supporters of ragging BRS agents during counting

Hyderabad: Attributing the Congress party’s victory in the Jubilee Hills Assembly constituency to illegal shortcuts and widespread rigging, BRS candidate Maganti Sunitha on Friday alleged large-scale rigging and rowdyism by the Congress.

Declaring that her party had won morally despite the official loss, she said the Congress won through backdoor tactics.

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“Rigging to secure victory is not a real win. Ethically, BRS has won,” Sunitha told reporters, alleging that the bypoll was conducted in an undemocratic manner.

She said multiple parties ganged up against BRS, turning the election into a combined assault on the BRS rather than a fair contest. “This is not a victory,” she said.

Sunitha alleged that voters were intimidated and said rowdies were used to scare people into voting, marking the beginning of rowdy rule in the constituency.

“They did everything possible against a woman candidate,” she said, stressing the targeted harassment. She alleged that rigging took place at every polling station, which explained the Congress maintaining a lead in all counting rounds.

“For the past three months, everyone has seen what was happening,” Sunitha said, crediting former Jubilee Hills MLA Maganti Gopinath for keeping rowdies in check during his tenure.

“As long as Gopinath was there, the rowdies stayed in their limits. Now they have come out and are building hype,” she said.

Sunitha also accused Congress supporters of ragging BRS agents inside the counting hall and said they even targeted sarees worn by female representatives. “Ragging was done on us during counting. Rowdyism has just begun in Jubilee Hills,” she said.