Jubilee Hills Bypoll 2025: Hyderabad Votes in High-Stakes Test

Hyderabad, November 11: The Jubilee Hills by-election is crawling along, and for once, the city that never shuts up seems oddly quiet. The polling stations opened at sunrise, but the buzz came much later if at all.

Slow Morning, Restless Parties

By 9 a.m., the turnout was under ten percent. Two hours later, it crossed twenty, and party workers started doing math on their phones like traders watching stock tickers. A few booths reported jammed EVMs, which were replaced quickly. Around 1,800 security personnel stood guard while drones kept an eye from above. Officially, it’s a smooth poll. Unofficially, it feels sluggish.

Outside, tents bearing party colors tell the real story. Congress volunteers look edgy, scanning WhatsApp groups for turnout updates. BRS workers, louder and more organized, insist their base will show up after lunch. The BJP, quieter but confident, is telling anyone who’ll listen that this is their “urban breakthrough moment.”

A Contest With History Behind It

This by-election comes after BRS MLA Maganti Gopinath passed away in June. His wife, Maganti Sunitha, is contesting now, hoping sympathy will hold the fort. Congress has fielded V. Naveen Yadav, once aligned with BRS but now playing reformer. L. Deepak Reddy carries the BJP’s hopes in what’s still considered tough ground for them.

Jubilee Hills isn’t your typical constituency. It’s the city in miniature, film circles, gated apartments, slums tucked into alleys, and roads that flood even before the rain finishes falling. People here complain about garbage collection and drainage, not ration cards. So this election, while local, has a bigger question buried in it: can urban voters still be moved by party loyalty, or do they want someone who’ll actually fix the road outside their house?

For the Congress, the answer matters more than the margin. A win here would cement its hold on Hyderabad’s urban belt. A loss would hand ammunition to a resurgent BRS and keep the BJP alive ahead of the municipal polls.

Charges, Counter-Charges, And Cheapfakes

It wouldn’t be an election in Telangana without a few accusations flying around. The BRS has complained that Congress workers were handing out freebies saris, mixer-grinders, and even cash. The Congress called the claim “a bad joke,” accusing BRS of panic.

Online, things got murkier. According to the Times of India, a wave of “cheapfakes” clipped videos, fake posts, and old footage repackaged as new flooded social media feeds. Most of it targeted Naveen Yadav, the Congress candidate. The Election Commission flagged several posts, but you can’t really rewind the damage once it spreads on WhatsApp.

Meanwhile, the AIMIM decided to stay out of the contest but quietly suggested it leans toward the Congress. In a seat with a substantial Muslim vote, that silent signal could matter more than any public endorsement.

Voices From The Ground

At a polling booth near Check Post, an elderly man stepped out shaking his head. “We vote, they forget,” he said. “Drainage, roads, water, every year it’s the same. Only the banners change.” Inside, a young voter took a selfie before casting her ballot, calling it “her first serious vote.” She didn’t look convinced that it would change much.

Around noon, volunteers started complaining about the heat more than the turnout. It’s the usual story, the middle-class crowd tends to show up after lunch, if at all. A senior polling officer said turnout could touch 50 percent “if the evening crowd comes through.” If not, it’ll be one more low-energy urban poll where results hinge on who managed to pull their base, not who inspired anyone new.

What It’s Really About

Every party claims this seat for different reasons. For BRS, it’s about holding symbolic ground and showing it can still fight back. For Congress, it’s proof that governance talk works even in elite constituencies. For the BJP, it’s a test balloon. Can the national pitch find footing in Hyderabad’s apartment corridors and tech offices?

But for voters, it’s simpler. They want clean roads, working drains, and someone who picks up the phone when the tap runs dry. “Don’t promise big things,” said a retired engineer outside a polling station. “Just do the small ones properly.”

By evening, as the turnout inches up and party offices start preparing for counting day, one thing’s clear this bypoll isn’t a referendum on ideology. It’s a mirror of how urban Telangana feels: impatient, skeptical, and tired of being courted every five years without seeing much change between them.

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