Congress Leads by Narrow Margin in Telangana's Jubilee Hills By-election as Counting Begins

Congress nominated Naveen Yadav, a Backward Class (BC) leader, as their candidate for the Jubilee Hills by-election.

As vote counting commenced early Friday morning for the Jubilee Hills assembly by-election, Congress candidate Naveen Yadav emerged with a narrow lead in initial trends.

According to Election Commission of India (ECI) data, Naveen Yadav is leading with 8,911 votes in early counting. Bharat Rashtra Samithi's (BRS) Maganti Sunitha Gopinath follows closely with 8,864 votes, while BJP's Deepak Reddy Lankala trails with 2,167 votes.

Officials established a counting center at Kotla Vijay Bhaskar Reddy Indoor Stadium in Hyderabad's Yousufguda area for the tabulation process.

The by-election became necessary following the death of BRS leader Maganti Gopinath, creating a vacancy in the constituency.

Voters cast their ballots in this assembly poll on November 11.

Earlier reports indicated that the Jubilee Hills constituency recorded a voter turnout of 10.02 percent.

Congress selected Naveen Yadav, a prominent Backward Class leader, as their representative for the contest.

The BRS party chose Sunitha, widow of the late Gopinath, to contest the seat, while the BJP fielded Lankala Deepak Reddy as their candidate.

The Assembly constituency features a significant Muslim voter population, and the Congress government's decisions have been interpreted as efforts to strengthen the party's support among Muslim voters.

Currently, Congress has no Muslim MLA in the State Assembly, and the Cabinet lacks Muslim representation.

November 11 saw by-elections taking place across eight Assembly constituencies in six states and one Union Territory. Voters participated in elections in Budgam and Nagrota (Jammu and Kashmir), Anta (Rajasthan), Ghatsila (Jharkhand), Jubilee Hills (Telangana), Tarn Taran (Punjab), Dampa (Mizoram), and Nuapada (Odisha).

In Jammu and Kashmir, the Budgam by-election was necessitated after Omar Abdullah resigned from the constituency. Abdullah had won both Budgam and Ganderbal seats in the 2024 assembly elections but chose to retain only Ganderbal.

The Nagrota seat became vacant following the death of BJP legislator Devender Singh Rana last year, who passed away shortly after taking his oath.

In Rajasthan, the Anta assembly constituency by-election was required after BJP leader Kanwar Lal Meena was disqualified following his conviction in a 2005 case.

The by-election in Jharkhand's Ghatsila was called after JMM MLA Ramdas Soren passed away in August, following treatment for injuries sustained from a fall.

In Punjab's Tarn Taran, the seat became vacant after sitting Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Kashmir Singh Sohal died in June this year.

The by-election in Odisha's Nuapada was necessitated by the death of BJD representative Rajendra Dholakia.