Hyderabad, Oct 24 (IANS) A total of 58 candidates have remained in the fray for the November 11 by-election to the Jubilee Hills Assembly constituency.

Election officials said 23 candidates withdrew their nominations during the last two days, leaving 58 candidates in the fray.

The deadline for withdrawal of nominations ended Friday.

As many as 211 candidates had filed their nominations for the by-election. Nominations of 130 candidates were rejected while the papers of 81 candidates were found in order.

The nominations of the main contestants were accepted. The by-election is likely to see a triangular fight among the ruling Congress, the opposition Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

BRS leader Maganti Gopinath, who had won the Jubilee Hills seat for the third consecutive term in 2023, died in June, necessitating the by-election. The BRS has fielded his wife, Maganti Sunitha.

The Congress party has given the ticket to Naveen Yadav, while the BJP has once again fielded Lankala Deepak Reddy.

In the 2023 elections, Gopinath had defeated former Indian cricket captain and Congress candidate Mohammed Azharuddin by 16,337 votes to win.

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

The 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.

Meanwhile, Hyderabad District Election Officer R. V. Karnan on Friday announced the final electoral rolls. The constituency has a total of 4,01,365 voters. They include 2,08,561 men and 1,92,779 women. He said 2,383 new voters were enrolled after the election notification was issued.

He said since 58 candidates are in the fray, four ballot units and one VVPAT will be used in each of the polling booths.

The election officer said the authorities concerned have so far seized Rs 2.84 crore cash and 512 litres of liquor worth Rs 3.69 lakh.

–IANS

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