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Hyderabad: The Hyderabad police are all geared up to ensure a free and fair election in the Jubilee Hills assembly constituency on Tuesday.
Around 1800 policemen drawn from local police stations, City Armed Reserve, Hyderabad Commissioner’s Task Force, and Telangana State Special Police, assisted by the Central Armed Police Force, are deployed for the election bandobast.
The police conducted a flag march and area domination exercise in the constituency where the by-poll was necessitated after the MLA Mangati Gopinath passed away in June. The Jubilee Hills assembly constituency has 4.01 lakh voters — over 2.08 lakh men and over 1.92 lakh women.
The election authorities have identified sensitive and hypersensitive booths. Extra police force will be deployed at these booths. The polling process will be monitored from the election control room through web casting.
The city police will deploy striking force units drawn from City Rapid Action Force, Swift Women Action Team, City Security Guards and Quick Response Teams. The police and election authorities for the first time will be using drones to monitor the polling process. Policemen in civilian clothes will be moving in the localities to identify trouble mongers.
Several check posts are being set up to prevent the flow of cash or goodies into the constituency. The by-poll has assumed significance with Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy leading an intense campaign in the constituency for several days, unprecedented for a CM in a by-election.
Not only the chief minister, but the ruling Congress has deployed all its ministers for the campaign. Union Coal Minister G Kishan Reddy, Union MoS (Home) Bandi Sanjay Kumar and senior BRS leaders, including K T Rama Rao, have also been canvassing in the constituency in support of their party candidates almost daily, undertaking ‘padayatras’, road shows and street corner meetings. Much is at stake for the three major parties as they battle it out in the triangular contest. Though the bypoll result would have no bearing on the stability of the Congress government, the outcome would be seen as a referendum on CM Revanth Reddy’s performance.
A loss would make the government vulnerable to attacks from the aggressive BRS and the ambitious BJP. The by-election is a do-or-die battle for BRS as it drew a blank in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, preceded by its shock defeat in the 2023 assembly polls. Moreover, Jubilee Hills was held by BRS until its MLA Maganti Gopinath died and the failure to retain it would push the regional party to the margins in state politics. The BJP is keen to score a win as it aims to emerge as an alternative to Congress in the 2028 assembly elections.
The Congress is banking on the recent induction of cricketer Mohammad Azharuddin into the Council of Ministers, which is expected to have a positive impact on Muslim voters. The AIMIM’S support is expected to boost the ruling party’s chances. Muslims, with an estimated population of one lakh in the constituency, would play a decisive role in the outcome of the bypoll. The administration has imposed a ban on liquor sales in the polling areas from 6 PM on November 9 to 6 PM on the polling day. On the counting day, the order will be enforced from 6 am on November 14 till the completion of counting of votes, officials said.
With inputs from PTI
This post was last modified on November 10, 2025 12:56 pm