Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], November 14 (ANI): As counting of votes for the Jubilee Hills assembly by-election began early Friday morning, Congress leads with its candidate Naveen Yadav in early trends.

According to the Election Commission of India (ECI), Congress candidate Naveen Yadav is leading with 8,911 votes in early trends. Bharat Rashtra Samithi's (BRS) Maganti Sunitha Gopinath is catching up by a close margin with 8,864 votes. Meanwhile, BJP's Deepak Reddy Lankala is trailing with 2,167 votes.

A counting centre has been set up at Kotla Vijay Bhaskar Reddy Indoor Stadium in Hyderabad's Yousufguda.

The seat fell vacant following the demise of BRS leader Maganti Gopinath.

The assembly poll was held on November 11.

Earlier, the Jubilee Hills constituency recorded a voter turnout of 10.02 per cent.

Congress had nominated Naveen Yadav, a leader from the Backward Class (BC), as its candidate.

Gopinath's widow, Sunitha, has been chosen by the BRS to run for the position. The BJP has selected Lankala Deepak Reddy as its candidate.

The Assembly constituency has a high concentration of Muslim voters, and the decision of the Congress government has been seen as a move to increase the prospects of the party among the Muslim voters.

The Congress has no Muslim MLA in the current State Assembly, and there is no Muslim Cabinet Minister in the Cabinet.

November 11 witnessed voting for by-elections to eight Assembly constituencies across six States and one Union Territory, as voters turned out to elect new representatives in Budgam and Nagrota in Jammu and Kashmir, Anta in Rajasthan, Ghatsila in Jharkhand, Jubilee Hills in Telangana, Tarn Taran in Punjab, Dampa in Mizoram and Nuapada in Odisha.

In Jammu and Kashmir, in Budgam, polling for the bye-elections was held following Omar Abdullah's resignation from the constituency. Abdullah chose to retain the Ganderbal constituency and vacate Budgam after winning both the seats in the 2024 assembly elections.

Nagrota seat fell vacant after the demise of BJP legislator Devender Singh Rana last year. Rana passed away within a fortnight of taking the oath.

The bypoll to the Anta assembly constituency in the Baran district of Rajasthan was necessitated after Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Kanwar Lal Meena was disqualified after being convicted in a 2005 case.

The bypoll in Jharkhand's Ghatsila was necessitated after the demise of Ramdas Soren, who was the JMM MLA. Jharkhand Minister Ramdas Soren passed away in August after being treated in Delhi for injuries from a fall.

In Tarn Taran in Punjab, the seat fell vacant after the death of the sitting Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA, Kashmir Singh Sohal, in June this year.

The bypoll in Nuapada in Odisha was necessitated following the vacancy in the Assembly seat after the passing away of BJD's Rajendra Dholakia. (ANI)