It is not yet known if the AIMIM will throw its oar in as it did in 2023 and helped BRS win or stay away from the election to help the ruling party, its newfound ally, win the seat.
Published Jun 23, 2025 | 9:00 AM ⚊ Updated Jun 23, 2025 | 1:16 PM
Jubilee Hills by-election. (Representational image)
Synopsis: The BRS is keen on retaining it, and the Congress is determined to snatch it from the pink party. The BJP, which is getting aggressive in Telangana’s political landscape, wants to tuck it under its belt and prove that it is emerging as a formidable threat to both parties.
The Jubilee Hills Assembly seat in Hyderabad, which fell vacant following the death of incumbent BRS MLA Maganti Gopinath on 8 June, is set for a by-election, raising interest in political circles.
The Election Commission is expected to notify the by-election within six months, which means before December this year.
Now the seat is up for grabs for the competing political parties. The BRS is keen on retaining it, and the Congress is determined to snatch it from the pink party. The BJP, which is getting aggressive in Telangana’s political landscape, wants to tuck it under its belt and prove that it is emerging as a formidable threat to both parties.
It is not yet known if the AIMIM will throw its oar in as it did in 2023 and helped BRS win or stay away from the election to help the Congress, its newfound ally, win the seat.
The by-election is rousing interest because a lot of water has flowed down the Musi since the 2023 Assembly elections. It was when Gopinath won the election, but in the same election, the BRS lost power. Worse still, in the Lok Sabha elections that followed six months later, it could not win even one of the 17 seats in Telangana.
The Congress ticket for Jubilee Hills is the most sought-after now. Former Indian cricket captain Mohammed Azharuddin, who is a political affairs committee member of the TPCC, is one in the race. He lost the 2023 election, ending up as runner-up with 64,212 votes. He is raring to contest once again to take full advantage of changed political dynamics, which are perceived to be in favour of the Congress.
Speaking to media persons on Thursday, 19 June, he said that he would be contesting the by-election. “Though I was given the ticket at the last minute, I gave a tough fight before losing the election by a narrow margin,” he said, adding that he would surely win the by-election and gift the seat to party supremo Rahul Gandhi as a gift from his side.
Also in the race is Feroze Khan, a senior Congress leader and former corporator from Shaikpet, Irfan Aziz, another Congress leader is also reportedly lobbying for the seat, and Baba Fasiuddin, a former BRS leader who joined Congress is also in the race. He was a former deputy mayor and a prominent figure in Hyderabad politics.
The Congress hopes to get majority support from Muslims, who constitute 33 percent of the electorate in the constituency, with the help of the AIMIM, which is now its ally. Also, it is payback time for the AIMIM since the Congress supported its candidate in the Hyderabad MLC election.
When it comes to the BRS, it is dead serious about retaining the seat, as it would be evidence of its narrative that the Congress is losing its sheen fast. The party often dares the 10 BRS MLAs who had defected to the Congress to resign and contest in the by-elections.
Party working president KTR said on several occasions that all the 10 MLAs would be disqualified, and the BRS candidates would romp home in the by-elections.
The party wants to reverse the discourse that it is losing its grip on Hyderabad after it lost its Cantonment seat to Congress in the by-election in June 2024. The party is reportedly contemplating fielding a family member of Gopinath in Jubilee Hills in the hope of generating a sympathy wave and winning the election, but this strategy may not be successful all the time.
It had backfired when BRS fielded Sujatha Reddy, widow of S. Ramalinga Reddy, in the by-election for Dubbaka in August 2020, after his death. The BRS tasted yet another defeat in Secunderabad Cantonment when it fielded G Niveditha, following the death of her sister and incumbent BRS MLA Lasya Nanditha.
In the 2023 election, the BJP had struggled in Jubilee Hills, with candidate Lankala Deepak Reddy throwing in the towel after securing 25,866 votes. The party’s influence in the constituency is limited, with BRS having been entrenched in the constituency and the Muslim minorities having reposed faith in it.
He is among the aspirants for the ticket, and there is speculation about a potential alliance with the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), in which case the TDP might field its candidate Nandamuri Suhasini, a member of the Nandamuri family, to leverage regional appeal. If the BJP goes alone, it may face a challenge since its influence is limited in the constituency.
The Jubilee Hills segment has a diverse electorate, with 3,75,430 eligible voters in 2023 (1,98,204 male, 1,77,207 female, 19 transgender people). The constituency’s 35 percent minority vote share makes it a key battleground for parties targeting this demographic.
The by-election is seen as a high-stakes contest with implications for Telangana’s urban politics. In the 2023 election, the constituency witnessed a 45.2 percent voter turnout in Jubilee Hills, lower than the state average of 70.28 percent.
This could be an interesting factor in the by-election, with parties focusing on mobilizing voters to improve the voting percentage.
(Edited by Sumavarsha)
