NGO

Hyderabad | October 7, 2025 — The Model Code of Conduct came into effect in Hyderabad district on October 6, following the announcement of the Jubilee Hills Assembly by-election, which will be held on November 11.

The bye-election was necessitated by the death of sitting MLA Maganti Gopinath of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) in June this year. The BRS has nominated his wife, Maganti Sunitha, as its candidate. The Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are yet to announce their nominees.

Telangana Chief Electoral Officer C. Sudharshan Reddy stated that all necessary arrangements are being made to ensure a free, fair, and peaceful election. The Election Commission has also directed all parties and candidates to disclose any criminal antecedents through newspapers, television, and digital platforms.

The official election notification will be issued on October 13.

• Last date for filing nominations: October 21
• Scrutiny of nominations: October 22
• Withdrawal of candidature: October 24
• Polling date: November 11
• Counting of votes: November 14
• Election process completion: November 16

Hyderabad District Returning Officer R.V. Karnan, who also serves as GHMC Commissioner, announced that new voters may register within 10 days of the notification. He confirmed that the Model Code of Conduct is now in effect across Hyderabad district.

Voting will be conducted using Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) systems across all polling stations. Adequate numbers of EVMs have been tested and deployed to ensure smooth polling operations.

Voters can present their EPIC (Voter ID) or any other approved identification document such as Aadhaar, Driving Licence, Passport, PAN Card, or Pension ID. The CEO urged all citizens to verify their names on the electoral rolls and participate actively in the democratic process.

As per the final electoral roll published last week, the Jubilee Hills constituency has 3,99,000 voters — including 2,07,382 males, 1,91,593 females, and 25 third-gender voters. This marks a 3.49% increase from the 3,85,287 voters registered during the 2023 Assembly elections.

Polling will be held across 407 polling stations spread across 139 locations in the constituency.

In the 2023 Assembly elections, BRS candidate Maganti Gopinath scored a hat-trick victory, defeating former Indian cricket captain and Congress candidate Mohammed Azharuddin by 16,337 votes. Gopinath secured 80,549 votes, while Azharuddin polled 64,212. BJP’s L. Deepak Reddy finished third with 25,866 votes, and AIMIM’s candidate came fourth with 7,848 votes.