HYDERABAD: Congress candidate V. Naveen Yadav on Friday captured the prestigious Jubilee Hills Assembly seat with a decisive majority of around 24,658 votes, defeating BRS contender Maganti Sunitha Gopinath in a by-poll closely fought by both ruling and opposition camps. Yadav secured victory after leading in 9 out of 10 rounds of counting held at Kotla Vijay Bhaskar Reddy Stadium. Naveen Yadav secured total votes of 99120, while Sunitha Gopinath polled around74462 votes. BJP’s Lankala Deepak Reddy finished third with votes. NOTA recorded the fourth-highest tally in a constituency known for its diverse urban electorate. BJP candidate lost the deposits in the elections. The by-poll was necessitated following the death of sitting BRS MLA Maganti Gopinath. Congress has now taken over a strong BRS seat in the heart of Hyderabad, consolidating its position in the state politics.Prestige battle for both Congress and BRSFor the Congress, the by-election was more than a routine contest. The result would have a direct bearing on Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy’s leadership. The emphatic margin has given the govt a measure of political stability and strengthened Revanth Reddy’s standing within the party.For BRS working president K.T. Rama Rao, the contest was seen as a test of the party’s organisational resilience after its 2023 defeat. Despite deploying its full cadre and banking on sympathy for the late Maganti Gopinath, the party failed to close the gap. The verdict signals that BRS has to wait till the next Assembly polls.Muslim voters turn decisive as AIMIM stays outWith 36% Muslim population in the constituency and AIMIM choosing not to contest, the community’s consolidated vote played a crucial role. This dynamic was underlined repeatedly in the run-up to polling, with both Congress and BRS viewing the demographic arithmetic as a tipping factor. Polling was held on November 11 with a high-pitch campaign from both sides. Through each round of counting on Friday, the Congress camp at Kotla Vijay Bhaskar Reddy Stadium remained confident as the lead widened steadily, ultimately crossing the 24,000 mark.Celebrations at Gandhi BhavanCelebrations erupted at Gandhi Bhavan as the final figures came in, with party workers hailing Yadav’s victory as a reaffirmation of public faith in the govt. Senior leaders described it as a “critical win” that keeps the Congress politically anchored at a time when the opposition has been intensifying its attacks.The result, while not altering the Assembly arithmetic significantly, reshapes the political mood in Hyderabad. It strengthens Revanth Reddy’s position, poses fresh questions for the BRS leadership, and signals the shifting dynamics of urban voters ahead of the next electoral cycle.
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