Jubilee Hills bypoll: After BRS, now Congress alleges voter manipulation under BRS rule

Hyderabad: Ahead of the Jubilee Hills bypoll, the Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) alleged that there have been 'serious irregularities and illegal activities' concerning voter manipulation (vote chori) in the constituency under the former BRS rule.

The delegation from the TPCC, including the chairman of the legal cell, Ponnam Ashok Goud, and others, met with the chief electoral officer and submitted a letter with their claims.

'Congress being falsely blamed'

“Under the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS, formerly TRS) government, there were unauthorised deletions, transfers and duplicate entries in the voter lists. Shockingly, some vested interests are now attempting to wrongly allege the Congress Party’s involvement, thereby diverting attention from the actual culprits,” the letter said. “These acts are in direct violation of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 and undermine the democratic rights of the citizens of Jubilee Hills.”

What measures did the Congress seek regarding its claims?

The delegation urged the Telangana State Election Commission (SEC) to:

1. Conduct an immediate and thorough investigation into all voter list irregularities in Jubilee Hills.

2. Identify and take strict legal action against the BRS officials and operatives responsible for these manipulations.

3. Ensure that the voter list is restored to its rightful form, protecting the rights of genuine voters.

KTR made claims about Congress manipulating the electoral rolls

The claims come in the light of allegations made by BRS working president KT Rama Rao that the Congress government in Telangana has illegally added 23,000 new votes within a short span while deleting over 12,000 existing ones.

He claimed that the government resorted to widespread manipulation of electoral rolls ahead of the Jubilee Hills by-election and that the Congress candidate had personally distributed voter ID cards, including to underage minors, in violation of election norms.

According to KTR, BRS teams inspected several addresses listed in the voter rolls and found large-scale irregularities. He also alleged that the ruling party was using lower-level government officials to manipulate the electoral process.

Jubilee Hills bypoll

The Election Commission of India (ECI) issued the official notification for the Jubilee Hills by-election on October 13. The bypoll, which was necessitated by the death of sitting BRS MLA Maganti Gopinath in June this year, will be held on November 11, and counting will take place on 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.