Tense Moments in Jubilee Hills By-Election as Votes are Counted

Vote counting underway for the Jubilee Hills by-election, pivotal for the ruling Congress and BRS. Low voter turnout marked the election held due to the death of BRS MLA Maganti Gopinath. Candidates include L Deepak Reddy for BJP, Sunita Gopinath for BRS, and Naveen Yadav for Congress.

The counting of votes is underway in the critical by-election for the Jubilee Hills Assembly constituency, carrying high stakes for both the ruling Congress government and the BRS. The process commenced on Friday under stringent security arrangements, starting with the postal ballots.

Officials have planned to conduct the counting in 10 rounds, as they carefully scrutinize the electoral decision of the voters. Despite having over 4 lakh eligible voters, the turnout was a mere 48.49 percent, with 1.94 lakh casting their votes on November 11.

This election was necessitated following the death of BRS MLA Maganti Gopinath earlier in June. The BJP has fielded L Deepak Reddy as their contender, while Gopinath's widow, Sunita, represents BRS. The Congress candidate is Naveen Yadav, bolstered by the support of Asaduddin Owaisi's AIMIM.

(With inputs from agencies.)