Malkajgiri, the largest constituency in Telangana, has become a battle of the turncoats with all the top three contestants having jumped parties — Eatala Rajender a former Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS)/Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) minister is contesting under the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) flag, P. Sunita Mahender Reddy is the Congress candidate, having moved from BRS and R. Laxma Reddy is contesting from BRS having quit the Congress.
The constituency adjoining the twin cities, but bereft of sufficient civic infrastructure, has gained prominence because its last representative has been none other than Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy himself. He had, in fact, resigned from his MP seat to be sworn in as the Chief Minister of Telangana in December last.
His win in 2019 elections despite the BRS flag flying high gave Mr. Revanth Reddy a much needed boost to his political career as he had lost in the then Assembly elections few months before from Kondungal constituency. As an MP Mr. Revanth Reddy could get closer to Rahul Gandhi, become the Congress president despite opposition from the old guard and steered the party to victory in the 2023 Assembly polls against all odds.
Naturally, his pride is at stake here and having personally ensured Vikarabad Zilla Parishad chairperson Ms. Sunita Reddy gets the party ticket, he is pulling no stops in aggressively campaigning by holding street corner public meetings and telling people that a vote for her is a vote for him.
Narrow roads, clogged traffic, inadequate drinking water — are among the main issues here and to the Chief Minister’s credit, he had managed to get the Defence Ministry’s permission for building two flyovers over defence lands towards Nizamabad and Karimnagar as soon he took over. But, it will take a while in the making so will the proposed metro rail connectivity to Medchal and other places.
Mr. Reddy had ensured the Cantonment Hospital at Bolarum is refurbished during Covid and has now plans to make it into a full fledged hospital but the issue of civilian areas of Secunderabad Cantonment Board (SCB) merged into the GHMC plus land issues is yet to be resolved.
Although SCR’s MMTS suburban train network has been extended, trains services are spartan and unreliable forcing commuters to use the clogged roads with bridges on tracks either incomplete as in Neredmet or in a dilapidated condition as in RK Puram. A flyover at Uppal remains incomplete and those near Medchal are under construction.
Ms. Sunita Reddy has released a local manifesto promising better roads, education institutions, community halls, water and others, while the CM has been showcasing his government’s six guarantees like free bus travel while projecting ‘donkey’s egg’ indicating ‘zero’ contribution from the BJP-led Central government.
But, will it be local issues or national issues which will trump here? Mr. Rajender having lost in two places during the Assembly polls is hoping to do a Revanth in LS polls and is banking heavily on Prime Minister Modi’s charisma having managed to wrest the ticket much to the despair of party’s old timers like P. Muralidhar Rao and others.
The PM has already conducted a roadshow and Home Minister Amit Shah is holding a public meeting at Parade Grounds in his support. Mr. Rajender has roped in experienced leaders like N. V. S. S. Prabhakar, N. Ramchander Rao and others to help him in the campaign where he speaks of the “prestige and development” of the nation under PM Modi. He is also promising to bring central funds for improving public transport and civic infrastructure.
The constituency with about 37.48 lakh voters with three-fourths being urban voters has a migrant population from the northern states, Odisha, Bengal and also from neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, including sizeable six lakh minority votes. The strident stance taken by the party against the minorities during the campaign across the country has become a matter of concern in the party, while there is speculation about support from ‘people of the Andhra origin’.
Though the BRS has won all the Assembly segments of Medchal, Qutbullapur, Kukatpally, Secunderabad Cantonment, Malkajgiri, LB. Nagar and Uppal in December, its candidate Laxma Reddy is not exactly in the prime position as the main battle seems to be between the Congress and the BJP. Former Minister K. T. Rama Rao who has been campaigning in support of Mr. Reddy, pointing out that he was a ‘local’ accused the CM of ‘neglecting’ the constituency as an MP.
“There are local issues but this election is about supporting Mr. Modi or not, isn’t it,” noted S. Narayana, an advocate. “We are right beside the main city yet this area has been bereft of proper roads, sewerage and mosquito menace is rampant. Every party has been deceiving us,” bemoaned Bhaskar Rao, a private sector employee. “I feel the constituency has a better chance of securing amenities if the MP too hails from the local state government,” remarked Hari, another citizen.
The seat has been won by Congress twice in 2009 and 2019 while Telugu Desam Party had won once in 2014 but MP Ch. Malla Reddy joined the TRS later. Will the Congress continue to maintain its hold post the stunning victory in the Assembly elections or will Mr. Modi matter?
