Congress candidate K Naveen Yadav (fourth from right) receives an election certificate from an electoral official following his victory in the Jubilee Hills by-election in Hyderabad, Telangana, on November 14, 2025.
Congress’ Jubilee Hills win bolsters Revanth’s grip on Telangana politics
Naveen Yadav triumphs by over 24,000 votes as BRS faces infighting, candidate controversy and a weak campaign; Congress eyes momentum for upcoming local body polls
In a significant political victory, the Congress on Friday (November 14) wrested the Jubilee Hills Assembly constituency from the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), consolidating Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy's position within both the party and the state government. The triumph marks the second time the Congress has beaten the BRS in a by-election, following its victory in Secunderabad Cantonment in June 2024. It raised the party's tally in the 119-member state Assembly to 66. The win also gave the Congress an occasion to cheer as the party faced a devastating outcome in the Bihar Assembly elections the same day.
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The Congress candidate, V Naveen Yadav, won the seat (falls under the Secunderabad Lok Sabha constituency) with a convincing margin of 24,711 votes. He defeated Maganthi Sunitha of the BRS, who received 74,234 votes as against the former’s 98,945. The BJP's Lankala Deepak Reddy finished a distant third with only 17,041 votes despite a fierce campaign by two Union ministers, G Kishan Reddy and Bandi Sanjay Kumar, and ended up forfeiting the deposit.
How parties stand in the Telangana Assembly after the Jubilee Hills bypoll result
Total seats 119 (Majority mark: 60)
Congress 66
BRS 37
BJP 8
AIMIM 7
CPI 1
Congress's strategic win
The Congress's victory has been widely attributed to its robust poll management and strategic campaigning under Chief Minister Reddy's leadership. Some of the key factors that helped the party are:
United front: The Grand Old Party presented a cohesive message, effectively arguing that it had inherited a state “destroyed” by former Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao’s (KCR) decade-long rule and was facing a non-cooperative central government.
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Caste calculations: Amid ongoing debates over Backward Classes (BC) reservation, the strategic selection of Naveen Yadav, an active BC leader, resonated with key voter blocs.
Securing minority votes: A two-pronged approach successfully courted a sizable Muslim minority. This involved inducting former India cricket captain Mohammed Azharuddin into the state cabinet and securing open support from the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), a key local player.
Also read: Bypoll results: MNF wins in Mizoram; Congress sweeps Telangana, BJP retains Jammu
Winning over Andhra settlers: Revanth Reddy's friendly stance towards Andhra Pradesh and its Chief Minister, Chandrababu Naidu, is believed to have convinced the influential Kamma community to back the Congress.
BRS faces mounting troubles
The BRS’s campaign, on the other hand, was beleaguered by several issues. The absence of an inspirational figure like KCR, public infighting between his son KT Rama Rao and daughter K Kavitha, and a delayed and lacklustre campaign, dented the party's image. The situation was exacerbated by a controversy surrounding their candidate, Sunitha, the widow of the Jubilee Hills’ former MLA Maganthi Gopinath, whose death necessitated the by-election. Gopinath’s mother and son publicly questioned the nature of her relationship with him, adding to the party's woes.
Also read: Cash, liquor and controversy cloud Jubilee Hills bypoll in Hyderabad
The BJP, meanwhile, failed to present itself as a serious contender. Its candidate selection was delayed, and its campaign lacked energy, culminating in a last-minute appeal to Hindu voters to unite against the AIMIM-backed Congress, a move that fell flat.
Telangana Transport Minister Ponnam Prabhakar said the voters of Jubilee Hills rejected the BRS, which he accused of playing out diversionary politics by fielding the widow of the late MLA to gain sympathy votes. “The huge margin is the endorsement for the Congress government’s policies and programmes,” Prabhakar said in a statement.
Revanth strengthens his hold
Many see the bypoll win as a personal triumph for Chief Minister Reddy, strengthening his authority to silence internal dissent.
“The win will help Revanth consolidate his position. With this, he will face the local body elections confidently. It will also silence those who are unhappy with his style of functioning,” said K Srinivasulu, a former political science professor at Osmania University.
Also read: Telangana polls | ‘AIMIM can’t bowl bouncers’: Azhar confident of Jubilee Hills win
Echoing the sentiment, Takkallapalli Kumar Rao, senior vice president of the Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC), called the victory a “stunning personal victory for Revanth Reddy”, noting that “every aspect, from candidate selection to campaign strategy, bore his signature”.
Moreover, the result deals a severe blow to the BRS's claim as the preferred party of urban voters. Having won 17 of its 39 seats in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) area in the 2023 elections, losing Jubilee Hills clearly signals a loosening grip over the state capital.
Cong senses fresh momentum
Despite a fiercely contested campaign ahead of the by-election marked by personal attacks and the alleged extensive distribution of money and liquor, the voter turnout on November 11 was a dismal 48.47 per cent. The Congress ranks are now jubilant, believing this momentum will carry the party to a strong performance in the upcoming local body elections.
