Hyderabad, Oct 22 (IANS) As many as 211 candidates have filed their nominations for the November 11 bypoll to the Jubilee Hills Assembly seat here, poll officials said on Wednesday.

On Tuesday (October 21), the last day of filing nominations, 117 candidates filed their papers. According to Returning Officer P. Sairam, 117 candidates filed 194 nomination papers on the seventh and the last day.

In an unprecedented development, candidates filed their nominations till midnight. A large number of candidates, including farmers affected by the Regional Ring Road (RRR) project, residents whose homes were allegedly demolished by HYDRAA, farmers and unemployed youth filed nominations.

These groups entered the fray to register their protest against the government over different issues.

Though the deadline to file nominations ended at 3 p.m., those standing in the queue were allowed to submit their papers. The process of filing nominations continued for nine hours after the deadline ended.

The Returning Officer said 211 candidates filed 321 nominations since October 13, when the notification was issued.

While only 94 candidates filed nominations in the first six days, 117 candidates turned up on the last day to submit their papers.

A similar situation was witnessed in 2019 in Nizamabad Lok Sabha constituency when 185 candidates, the majority of them turmeric farmers, had filed nominations. The farmers were pressing their demand for the Turmeric Board. This had forced the Election Commission of India to use a ballot paper.

However, Election Commission officials said that despite more than 200 candidates filing their nominations in Jubilee Hills, there is no need for ballot papers. The Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) can handle up to 300 candidates.

The scrutiny of nominations will be taken up on Wednesday, while Friday is the last day for withdrawal of candidatures. The final number of valid nominations will be known after the scrutiny.

BJP’s candidate Lankala Deepak Reddy was among those who filed their nominations on the last day. Congress party’s Naveen Yadav and Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) candidate Maganti Sunitha had already filed their nominations.

The by-election has been necessitated following the death of sitting MLA Maganti Gopinath of BRS in June. In the 2023 elections, he defeated former Indian cricket captain and Congress candidate Mohammed Azharuddin by 16,337 votes to win the seat for his third consecutive term.

In a multi-cornered contest, Gopinath had secured 80,549 votes while Azharuddin had polled 64,212 votes. Deepak Reddy of the BJP was in third position with 25,866 votes.

The BRS has fielded Gopinath’s wife in an apparent move to cash in on the sympathy factor. BJP has once again given a ticket to Deepak Reddy, while Naveen Yadav has entered the fray on a Congress ticket.

All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), whose candidate had finished fourth in the 2023 elections, is not contesting this time. The party led by Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi has declared support for the Congress candidate.

–IANS

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