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Hyderabad, Nov 11 (IANS) More than 48 percent voters voted in the by-election for Jubilee Hills assembly constituency in Hyderabad on Tuesday.
According to the Election Commission, when voting ended at 6 pm, 48.43 percent voting was recorded.
However, since voters standing in queues at polling stations were allowed to cast their votes, the final figures of voting will be known after receiving the final reports from the polling stations.
Barring isolated incidents, voting was peaceful at all 407 polling stations in the constituency.
Moderate polling was witnessed since the morning in the constituency, which includes posh Jubilee Hills and several middle class and weaker class colonies and slums in the heart of the city.
The final voting percentage is higher than the 47.58 percent recorded in the 2023 assembly elections.
A little more than 4 lakh voters were eligible to exercise their franchise in the by-election caused by the death of sitting Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS) MLA Maganti Gopinath.
A total of 58 candidates are in the fray, but the main contest is between the ruling Congress party and the opposition BRS and BJP.
BRS has fielded Gopinath’s wife Sunita, while Naveen Yadav has fielded on Congress ticket. BJP has once again fielded Lankala Deepak Reddy.
Counting of votes will take place on November 14.
Tension prevailed at some polling stations in the evening as BRS leaders, including candidate Sunita, protested, accusing the ruling party of rigging. He had a heated argument with the police officers.
Meanwhile, police registered three cases against several persons, including three Congress MLAs, for violating the Model Code of Conduct (MCC).
Two cases have been registered against sitting Congress MLAs Birla Ilaiah, Ram Chandra Naik and Ramdas Maloth at Madhuranagar police station.
A case has been registered at Borabanda police station against former MLAs Dasyam Vinay Bhaskar and Methuku Anand, who are associated with the opposition BRS.
BRS complained to election officials that several ruling party MLAs, who are outsiders, were seen near polling stations.
It said that Congress MLAs and MLCs were present in the constituency since Monday, but the Election Commission has not done anything to send them out.
For the first time, drones were deployed for surveillance at all polling stations. 150 drones were used for centralized aerial surveillance and real-time situation analysis.
Hyderabad Police Commissioner VC Sajjanar monitored the voting process through drones from the Integrated Police Command and Control Centre.
Live webcasting was also arranged from all polling stations to ensure peaceful voting and maintain law and order.
–IANS
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