The Jubilee Hills by-election has seen an unexpected surge in the number of candidates filing nominations. Within the first six days, 94 nominations were submitted, but on the final day, Tuesday, a remarkable 189 candidates arrived at the Returning Officer’s office, located on the Shaikpet Tahsildar’s premises in Banjara Hills, to submit their papers.
Due to the overwhelming turnout and the limited time until the 3 pm deadline, the Returning Officer had to issue tokens to enable candidates to file their papers in sequence. By around 9:30 pm, only 90 nominations had been processed. With a large number of candidates still awaiting clearance past midnight, officials sought special permission from the Election Commission to continue the nomination process after hours. Should all the papers be accepted, the total number of nominations will reach 283.
A number of groups joined the contest as a form of protest against various government policies. These included farmers who had given land for the Pharma City project in Yacharam, landowners affected by the RRR (Regional Ring Road) land acquisition, representatives of unemployed youth unions demanding job recruitment, members of Mala community organisations calling for Scheduled Caste categorisation, and associations of retired employees seeking post-retirement benefits. All groups turned up to file nominations.
Tension briefly flared around the Shaikpet Tahsildar’s office. Farmers from Yacharam carried placards and shouted slogans such as “We don’t want Pharma City, we want our lands back.” Police stopped members of the unemployed unions near Road No. 3 in Banjara Hills, allowing only candidates and their key supporters inside the premises.
Election authorities in Hyderabad clarified that the polls will be conducted using Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), regardless of the final number of candidates. They noted that the M3 model EVMs introduced by the Central Election Commission are capable of accommodating only up to 384 candidates.
Also read: AIMIM to back Congress in Jubilee Hills bypoll
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