Hyderabad, Oct 14 (IANS) Eleven more nominations were filed on Tuesday for the November 11 by-election to the Jubilee Hills Assembly constituency (Telangana) in Hyderabad.

Returning officer P. Sairam said 11 candidates, including seven Independents, filed their nominations.

With this, the number of nominations filed during the last two days has gone up to 21.

Those who filed their nomination papers included M. Venkat Reddy of Paata Party, Mohammed Mansoor Ali of Anna YSR Congress, Jajula Bhaskar Sharamjeevi Party and L. Chandra Shekhar of All India Kisan Janatha Party.

The process for the by-election was set in motion with the Returning Officer issuing the notification on Monday.

No one from national or regional parties filed nominations in the first two days.

Candidates can file their nominations by October 21. Scrutiny of nominations will be held on October 22, and withdrawal of candidature will be allowed until October 24.

The polling will be held on November 11, while the counting of votes will be taken up on November 14.

The by-election is necessitated by the death of sitting MLA Maganti Gopinath of BRS in June.

In the 2023 elections, Gopinath scored a hat-trick by defeating former Indian cricket captain and Congress candidate Mohammed Azharuddin by 16,337 votes.

BRS has announced Gopinath’s wife, Maganti Sunitha, as its candidate. The Congress party has named Naveen Yadav as its candidate.

The BJP is likely to announce its candidate in a day or two.

Meanwhile, the election authorities on Tuesday organised Systematic Voters’ Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP) awareness programme in the constituency to encourage young voters to participate actively in the democratic process.

Students were educated on the electoral process, new voter registration, and EPIC corrections through the Voter Helpline App. Electoral Literacy Clubs (ELCs) were formed to sustain awareness, and students took the voter’s pledge to uphold the spirit of democracy, said Hyderabad District Election Officer R. V. Karnan.

Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) conducted a training session for all SVEEP Assistant Nodal Officers, led by the SVEEP Nodal Officer, to scale up voter awareness initiatives across the constituency.

Detailed directions were issued to intensify voter awareness activities across the constituency to ensure maximum participation and inclusivity in the by-election on November 11.

–IANS

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