Goshamahal constituency: BRS & Congress set to go all out to wrest seat from BJP

♦ BRS’ Nandkishore Vyas (Bilal), in-charge of Goshamahal, has a good support base from the North Indian voters. He had contested unsuccessfully as independent in 2014

♦ Prem Singh Rathod is another strong contender who earlier represented Maharajgunj and unsuccessfully contested from Goshamahal in 2018. Gaddam Srinivas who was once Grandhalaya Samstha chairman is trying his luck

♦ Congress party sources said 15 contenders filed their applications at Gandhi Bhavan for the constituency. However, TPCC fishermen cell chairman Mettu Sai Kumar, PCC general secretary Prem Lal, general secretary Zaheer Lalani and Madhusudan Gupta are the front runners

Hyderabad: Goshamahal is called mini-India, as it is dominated by the North Indians.The fight here has always been between the Congress and the BJP. Following the comments of BJP suspended local MLA Raja Singh to quit politics if not contesting as party nominee, other parties, including the Congress and the BRS aim to snatch the seat by defeating the saffron party. Goshamahal is the only seat of BJP in 119 segments.

However, during the previous election, the BRS gave a tough fight to Singh, who won twice in 2014 and 2018. With his suspension in August last year, he asserted that he won’t contest the Assembly polls if the party does not revoke it. Singh also informed that he won’t contest as independent and work for Hindu Rashtra if the party decides not to revoke his suspension.

With the BRS not deciding the contender for this segment and reiterating his statement, Sigh said the ruling party candidate for Goshamahal will be decided by AIMIM chief and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi.

The constituency was earlier called Maharajgunj. After delimitation it was changed as Goshamahal in 2009. From 1999 to 2004 Prem Singh Rathod was MLA from Maharajgunj. Mukesh Goud of Congress won the seat for two terms till 2014. In 2014 Singh defeated Mukesh Goud and also won in 2018 by defeating Rathod (BRS).

The BJP MLA often alleges that Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao had promised to visit the constituency during his first term, but failed to live up to the promise. He alleged that in the 2018 polls approximately 45,000 had their names removed from the list in the constituency.

The BRS appointed Nandkishore Vyas (Bilal) as in-charge of Goshamahal. He has a good support base from the North Indian voters. He had contested unsuccessfully as independent in 2014.

Rathod is another strong contender who earlier represented Maharajgunjand unsuccessfully contested from Goshamahal in 2018. Gaddam Srinivas who was once GrandhalayaSamstha chairman is trying his luck. He has challenged the Singh to show development; he would give a reward of Rs 11 lakh.

However, in the saffron party there is a competition for ticket. Leader M Vikram Goud, the son of Mukesh Goud, said he will contest from Goshamahal.

The Congress party sources said 15 contenders filed their applications at Gandhi Bhavan for the constituency. However, TPCC fishermen cell chairman Mettu Sai Kumar, PCC general secretary Prem Lal, general secretary Zaheer Lalani and Madhusudan Gupta are front runners for the ticket.