Jubilee Hills bypoll: BJP fields Lankala Deepak Reddy for second time

Hyderabad: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday announced Lankala Deepak Reddy as its candidate for the upcoming Jubilee Hills Assembly by-election in Telangana.

The decision was ratified by the party’s Central Election Committee (CEC) following recommendations from the State unit.

CEC bets on Deepak Reddy’s experience and local connections

The BJP’s Telangana election committee had reportedly sent three names, Lankala Deepak Reddy, Juturu Keerthi Reddy and Veerapaneni Padma, to the central leadership for final approval.

After internal discussions, the CEC cleared Deepak Reddy’s name to contest from Jubilee Hills for a second consecutive term. Party insiders said Reddy’s organisational experience and local connections in the constituency worked in his favour during the selection process.

Second attempt for Deepak Reddy

Deepak Reddy had contested from Jubilee Hills in the 2023 Telangana Assembly elections, finishing third.

The seat was then won by Maganti Gopinath of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), who defeated Congress candidate and former Indian cricket captain Mohammed Azharuddin by a margin of 16,337 votes.

In that multi-cornered contest, Gopinath polled 80,549 votes, Azharuddin secured 64,212 votes, while Deepak Reddy garnered 25,866 votes.

Bypoll necessitated by Gopinath’s death

The by-election was necessitated following the death of BRS MLA Maganti Gopinath in June this year. The BRS has now fielded his wife, Maganti Sunitha, as its candidate in a bid to retain the family’s hold over the constituency.

The ruling Congress has named Naveen Yadav as its nominee, setting the stage for a three-cornered contest among the BRS, Congress, and BJP.

Election schedule announced

The Election Commission of India (ECI) issued the official notification for the by-election on October 13.

Last date for filing nominations: October 21

Scrutiny of nominations: October 22

Withdrawal of candidature: October 24

Polling date: November 11

Counting of votes: November 14

The Jubilee Hills by-election is expected to be one of the most closely watched contests in Telangana’s political calendar, as all three major parties aim to test their urban voter base ahead of the 2026 civic and parliamentary polls, experts said.