BC Welfare Minister Ponnam Prabhakar, Labour Minister Vivek Venkata Swamy, Animal Husbandry Minister Adluri Laxman Kumar and other leaders distributed laddus and congratulated one another
Hyderabad:The Congress won the Jubilee Hills byelection by 24,729 votes, as its candidate V. Naveen Yadav secured 98,988 votes, defeating BRS nominee Maganti Sunitha Gopinath who polled 74,259 votes. BJP’s Lanka Deepak Reddy finished third with 17,061 votes and lost his deposit.
Naveen Yadav led in all six divisions of the constituency, including areas considered BRS strongholds. A significant share of the minority vote also went to Congress, including in Shaikpet, Erragadda, Rahmath Nagar and Borabanda. In Shaikpet and Erragadda, AIMIM had won the previous municipal elections.
A total of 58 candidates contested the election. All the remaining candidates, including a few from smaller parties and several independents, secured fewer than 200 votes each. A total of 924 voters chose the ‘None of the Others (NOTA)’ option.
Of the 4,01,365 electors, 1,94,631 turned up at the polling booths on November 1. Counting began at 8 am on Friday at the Kotla Vijaya Bhaskar Reddy Indoor Stadium in Yousufguda. Postal ballots were counted first, with 101 votes opened, 96 accepted and five rejected. The Congress secured 43 postal votes, the BRS 25, the BJP 20, two were NOTA and the rest went to other candidates.
There were ten rounds of counting with 42 tables in operation. The Congress maintained its lead from the first round, with the BRS trailing and the BJP consistently in third place.
The counting process was monitored by district electoral officer R.V. Karnan along with observers. A designated enclosure was arranged for the candidates. Naveen Yadav, Sunitha Gopinath and Lanka Deepak Reddy were seated there, tallying the numbers as counting progressed. The BJP candidate left the centre partway through the process.
Yadav appeared composed throughout the early rounds. After five rounds, he told his colleagues he needed to meet Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy as part of the victory celebrations. Eating a sandwich while waiting for the next round, he recalled the allegations made by the BRS.
“BRS tried to not only destroy my credibility but also attempted to defame my father, my brother and my entire family. But with the election results, the people have given a tight slap to their vicious intentions,” he told Deccan Chronicle even as counting continued with more than 40 per cent of votes still left to be tallied.
During the seventh round, Yadav began receiving congratulatory calls and some Congress leaders, including a corporator, clicked pictures with him. Flex banners congratulating him surfaced in parts of Yousufguda even as the sixth round was still underway. Family members were seen greeting each other as the lead grew, with Yadav’s parents also celebrating.
By 1.35 pm, when the tenth round ended, Yadav’s majority stood at 24,729. Counting was completed by 2.35 pm, after which returning officer P. Sairam handed over the certificate in the presence of general observer Ranjit Kumar Singh. While counting was in progress, ministers and Congress leaders celebrated the imminent win at various locations, including Gandhi Bhavan.
Total electors: 4,01,365
Votes polled : 1,94,631
Votes secured by candidates:
Congress (Naveen Yadav) 98,988
BRS (Maganti Sunitha Gopinath) 74,259
BJP (Lankala Deepak Reddy) 17,061
NOTA 924
