Among all the constituencies in the city and its peripherals, Secunderabad has been just a dream for the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS), while the Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have tasted success in equal measure here in the last three decades.
For the first time, however, the TRS looks well-placed in the constituency and a three-cornered contest is on the cards with two senior leaders fighting with a new entrant. A total of 28 candidates are in the fray here.
The BJP has fielded former BJP president and former Amberpet MLA G. Kishan Reddy, while the Congress candidate is Anjan Kumar Yadav, who represented the constituency twice in 2004 and 2009. Both of them are taking on Sai Kiran Yadav, son of Animal Husbandry Minister Talasani Srinivas Yadav.
Though BJP leader Bandaru Dattatreya represents the constituency now, the going may be tough for the party, given the changed political atmosphere.
The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) is no longer with the BJP unlike the last time, but a huge advantage seems to be coming from the youngsters, first-time voters and the educated section. “If a clean image of Mr. Kishan Reddy is an advantage for him, TRS candidate Sai Kiran Yadav is almost unknown among majority voters,” argues a senior Congress leader. “Congress voters may opt for Mr. Kishan Reddy this time as they are averse to TRS,” another leader claimed.
The huge attendance at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s meeting here has boosted BJP’s confidence. Moreover, Mr. Kishan Reddy was the MLA of Amberpet (part of Secunderabad Parliamentary constituency) thrice, though he lost it with a slender margin this time.
The BJP has also been attracting the voters with the claim that if Mr. Reddy wins, he would sure be accommodated in the Union Cabinet, and he can focus on the development of the constituency better than any other candidate. In 2014, the BJP secured 33.62% votes in alliance with the TDP, which is not in fray now. Mr. Dattatreya won with a sizeable majority of 2.54 lakh votes against Mr. Anjan Yadav and the TRS stood at 4th place, while the third place went to an MIM candidate.
Municipal elections
However, the TRS has strengthened itself since 2014 with the TDP MLAs defecting to the party and it also won 99 seats in the Hyderabad Municipal Corporation elections. Now, the TRS looks strong with all the seven constituencies in Secunderabad either under its belt or under its ally AIMIM.
Muslims and Christians, who form nearly 25% of the 19 lakh-odd voters, are likely to vote for the TRS, while some might vote for Congress. Given this, the BJP has to start with at least three lakh vote deficit. The voters of Andhra region, who are considerable in number in the constituency, would be crucial. The figures of 2014 Parliament and 2018 Assembly elections prove that the TRS increased its votes from 1.43 lakh to 4.29 lakh, while the BJP’s share reduced from 4.38 lakh to 1.72 lakh.
While both the TRS and the BJP are vigorously campaigning in the constituency, Congress candidate Mr. Anjan Kumar Yadav is slowly getting into the poll mode. Twice MP from here, Mr. Yadav feels that the Congress’ base is intact and it would be a fight between the Congress and the BJP on the lines of Rahul Vs Modi. But the series of defections from the Congress to TRS in the recent times is a factor that needs to be taken into account.
Surprisingly, it is the political narrative that is dominant in the campaign rather than the local issues that people want to hear from the contestants.
TRS leaders harp on the image of Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, while BJP prefers to take national issues with Mr. Modi at the helm.
The Congress candidate too is concentrating on why AICC president Rahul Gandhi should be the Prime Minister. Though the local manifestos prepared by the three major parties contain several important issues, there is hardly any debate on them during the campaigning.