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Hyderabad, Oct 26 (IANS) From fruits to kitchen utensils and household items to electrical and electronic goods, candidates in the Jubilee Hills Assembly by-election have chosen a variety of election symbols, both common and unusual.
There are 58 candidates in the fray for the by-election to be held on November 11 for the Hyderabad assembly constituency.
The Election Commission on Sunday released the list of contesting candidates and the election symbols allotted to them.
Smaller parties and independent candidates have chosen unusual symbols like soapbox, baby walker, dumbbell, dish antenna, room cooler, CCTV camera, basket full of fruits, bangles and frocks.
Apart from candidates from three recognized national and state political parties, 26 contestants from smaller political parties and 29 independent candidates are in the fray.
This is the highest number of candidates in the history of the Jubilee Hills constituency, which was created during the delimitation of assembly constituencies in 2009.
Had the nominations of 130 candidates not been rejected, the number of contestants would have been much higher. Other 23 candidates withdrew their nominations.
A large number of candidates came into the fray to air their grievances on various issues. These reportedly included people affected by the demolition of houses by the Hyderabad Disaster Response and Property Protection Agency (HYDRAA), reconstruction of the proposed Regional Ring Road (RRR), farmers and unemployed youth.
According to the final voter list released two days ago, there are a total of 4,01,365 voters in the constituency. These include 2,08,561 men, 1,92,779 women. He said that 2,383 new voters were enrolled after the election notification was issued.
Since 58 candidates are in the fray, four ballot units will be used in each polling station, which will require a larger ballot box.
District Election Officer RV Karnan said that all arrangements have been completed for 407 polling stations.
There is a possibility of a triangular contest between Congress, Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS) and Bharatiya Janata Party in the by-election.
BRS leader Maganti Gopinath, who had won the Jubilee Hills seat for the third consecutive time in 2023, died in June, necessitating the by-election. BRS has fielded his wife Maganti Sunita.
Congress party has given ticket to Naveen Yadav, while BJP has once again fielded Lankala Deepak Reddy.
Gopinath won the 2023 election by defeating former Indian cricket captain and Congress candidate Mohammad Azharuddin by 16,337 votes.
In the multi-cornered contest, Gopinath got 80,549 votes, while Azharuddin got 64,212 votes. BJP’s Deepak Reddy stood third with 25,866 votes.
All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), whose candidate finished fourth in the 2023 elections, is not contesting the elections this time. The party led by Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi has announced its support to the Congress candidate.
–IANS
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