HYDERABAD: The nominations of 81 candidates for the Jubilee Hills byelection were found to be valid and accepted by the Election Commission during scrutiny of papers, which went on till early morning of Thursday. The EC has rejected papers of 130 candidates for various reasons.
A total of 321 nominations were filed by as many as 211 candidates, with some of them filing two or three sets of papers. The last date for withdrawal of candidatures is October 24. The high-stakes byelection is scheduled for November 11, while the counting of votes will take place on November 14.
The bypoll was necessitated by the untimely demise of incumbent BRS MLA Maganti Gopinath in June this year.
After the nominations closed on Monday, the scrutiny process began on Wednesday and it lasted for over 17 hours, after which the Returning Officer gave the green signal to the nominations of 81 candidates, including those of three main political parties -- V Naveen Yadav of the ruling Congress, Maganti Gopinath’s widow Magani Sunitha of BRS and Lankala Deepak Reddy of the BJP.
The nominations of 51 independent candidates were also found to be valid. A large number of candidates, including farmers affected by the Regional Ring Road (RRR) project, residents whose houses were allegedly demolished by HYDRAA and unemployed youth also filed nominations. These groups entered fray to register their protest against the government over different issues.
The final list of candidates is expected to be published after the withdrawal deadline on Friday.
ECI initiative to enhance voter experience
Hyderabad: In a major step towards enhancing voter convenience, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has introduced a new feature to make the polling process smoother, simpler and more transparent.
From now on, voter slips will prominently display the serial and part numbers in bold, clean and legible format, enabling voters to easily identify their details.
Explaining the initiative, District Election Officer and GHMC Commissioner RV Karnan stated that the move aims to reduce confusion at the polling stations and help every voter quickly locate their name and details in the electoral rolls.
The ECI continues to implement progressive measures to ensure that voting remains simple, accessible and transparent for every citizen, he said.
