Pre-poll battle for Jubilee Hills turns bitter as BRS, Congress go for the jugular

With three days to go for the Jubilee Hills by-election, Congress and BRS engaged in a high-voltage campaign. BRS leaders exposed intimidation, destruction, administrative collapse under Congress; highlighted Revanth Reddy’s administrative failures

Hyderabad: With polling for the Jubilee Hills by-election just three days away, Friday saw political parties taking the poll heat in the State capital up by several notches. On one hand, the desperation of the Congress, after multiple surveys hinted at the BRS enjoying a clear edge, saw the ruling party launching malicious campaigns against BRS candidate and raids on its leaders. The BRS, on the other hand, buoyed by the positive response from the people, kept going for the jugular, exposing the atmosphere of intimidation, destruction and administrative collapse in the State.

Early in the day, the vindictive campaign by the Congress against BRS candidate Maganti Sunitha saw the ruling party trying to use her husband, the late Maganti Gopinath’s mother’s allegations against Sunitha. The BRS was however quick to respond and with photos, prove the allegations as a conspiracy to malign its candidate.

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The campaign continued with the Congress then sending the police and flying squads to residences of BRS leaders and targeting former MLA Marri Janardhan Reddy and MLC T Ravinder Rao for ‘stashing huge amounts of cash’. However, the attempts fell flat with the squads finding nothing. The act backfired with the BRS pointing out that the raids were ‘illegal’ since the leaders were not in locations falling under the election code of conduct.

The BRS further exposed the Congress, with visuals of money distribution operations coordinated by a corporator from his house, where senior party leaders including three Ministers were reported to have assembled. BRS leader Dr RS Praveen Kumar, in a post on X, alleged that Ministers were openly transporting bundles of cash from MLA/MP Colony in Khairatabad using government vehicles.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy held a marathon press conference, a major part of which he used to beat his chest on how his ‘Bade bhai Chote bhai’ camaraderie with Prime Minister Narendra Modi had helped him get approval for a Rs 26,000 crore debt restructuring package. Interestingly, in the same press conference, he repeated his ‘We are bankrupt’ refrain, citing a cash crunch and inability to raise loans to keep welfare schemes running.

On the other hand, BRS working president KT Rama Rao, whose road shows have been drawing massive crowds with his video presentations driving home the point that Revanth Reddy had failed to keep his promises, dared the Chief Minister to seek votes in the Jubilee Hills bypoll based on his 24 months of governance. Slamming Revanth Reddy for unleashing HYDRAA on the poor, he said Revanth Reddy’s tenure had reversed progress, hitting jobs across real estate, transport and small trade and driving away investment.

Earlier in the day, former Minister T Harish Rao too came out all guns blazing on Revanth Reddy, calling him a blackmailer who was misusing State machinery, intimidating institutions and threatening citizens ahead of the Jubilee Hills bypoll. Predicting a silent revolution in Jubilee Hills, Harish Rao slammed the Revanth Reddy government, stating that it was marked by misrule and administrative collapse.

The show will continue for two more days, with campaigning to end by 5 pm on Sunday. The impact of the high voltage campaign will then be seen as the people of Jubilee Hills head to the voting booth on Tuesday.