HYDERABAD: Polling for the Jubilee Hills Assembly bye-election began on Tuesday morning, November 11, 2025, and will continue until 6 pm. Voter turnout stood at 10.02 percent by 9 am, with no untoward incidents reported so far.
The constituency has 4,01,365 registered voters, including 2,08,561 men, 1,92,779 women, and 25 others. This includes 18 service voters, 123 overseas electors, 1,908 PwD electors, and 6,859 voters aged between 18 and 19 years. Counting of votes is scheduled for November 14, 2025.
Polling in some booths at Shaikhpet, Rehmatnagar, and Vengalrao Nagar was delayed due to glitches in the electronic voting machines (EVMs). ECIL technical teams were deployed to resolve the issues. At Srinagar Colony’s Nagarjuna Community Hall, polling was briefly halted because of a power outage. Election officials confirmed that the issue was being rectified and voting would resume once the equipment was replaced.
Given the large number of candidates, each polling station has been equipped with one Control Unit, four Ballot Units, and one Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) system. In total, 826 Control Units, 2,494 Ballot Units, and 831 VVPATs were dispatched from the Distribution, Reception, and Counting Center (DRC) at Kotla Vijayabhaskar Reddy Stadium, Yousufguda. Forty ECIL engineers and technicians have been deployed to provide technical support throughout the day.
Although 58 candidates are contesting, the main contest is seen as triangular — between Congress’s Naveen Yadav (supported by AIMIM), BRS’s Sunita Gopinath, and BJP’s Lankala Deepak Reddy. BRS candidate Maganti Sunitha cast her vote along with her family at the Sri Krishnadevaraya Nagar Welfare Centre in Yellareddyguda. The seat fell vacant following the death of her husband and sitting MLA, Maganti Gopinath.
Hyderabad District Election Officer and GHMC Commissioner RV Karnan inspected polling stations in Erragadda to ensure smooth conduct of the election. Voters can use any one of twelve approved photo identification documents apart from the EPIC card to cast their vote.
In a first-of-its-kind initiative in India, a comprehensive drone surveillance system has been deployed to ensure transparent, secure, and efficient polling operations. Under this program, 139 drones — one per polling location — are monitoring real-time activities across all booths. The system has been implemented by Hyderabad-based drone startup Hanuma Vyuh Private Limited, marking a significant technological milestone in election management.