Jubilee Hills constituency BRS, Congress set to lock in tough tussle

Hyderabad: The Jubilee Hills constituency is one segments with supremacy and is political heart of Hyderabad as well as Telangana. It is home to the Telugu film industry hub of Filmnagar, actors, business tycoons and leading politicians.This segment will see tough competition between the BRS and the Congress. Legislator Maganti Gopinath (BRS), who won the last two terms and has secured party ticket, and the Congress leaders are keeping a close vigil as Muslim voters will be crucial for the poll outcome.

Jubilee Hills is an affluent suburban area of Hyderabad. It is one of the most expensive commercial and residential locations in the country with prime land prices. It is located between wealthy commercial district of Banjara Hills and nearby Hyderabad’s IT hub of Hi-tech City. Several parties are battling to grab the seat in the upcoming polls.

This constituency was constituted in 2009 before the elections after it was carved out of the sprawling Khairatabad segment. Gopinath has a strong hold. P Vishnuvardhan Reddy, son of former minister P Janardhan Reddy, was elected in 2009 on Congress ticket. He contested again in 2014 and 2018 but lost to Gopinath. In the ensuing elections, former MP and cricketer Mohammed Azharuddin and Vishnuvardhan are the Congress aspirants.

It is also learnt that TPCC Secretary Mohd Saleem is in the race for the ticket. Sources said Azhar is keen to make his State electoral debut from Jubilee Hills.

He has even told his close associates that he got the party’s green signal in Delhi to start connecting with people in the constituency. However, Vishnuvardhan is strongly opposed to Azhar’s new initiatives without his knowledge. This has led to clashes between the two groups recently.

Azhar is keeping a close vigil on the Muslim voters. The segment also has more middle-class and weaker section colonies, including Borabanda, Yousufguda, Srinagar Colony, Yerragadda, Shaikpet, Tolichowki and bastis like Rehmathnagar and Venkatagiri.

Gopinath had won the seat as a TDP candidate in 2014 by pipping his MIM opponent Naveen Yadav by 9,000 votes. He retained the seat as BRS candidate with 16,000 votes over Vishnuvardhan Reddy. Political analysts say, apart from Gopinath, there were two aspirants, TSWIDC chairman Ravula Sridhar Reddy and former Deputy Mayor Baba Fasiuddin. However, the party named the sitting member.

Sridhar Reddy had unsuccessfully contested on BJP ticket in 2018 and later joined the BRS. According to sources, the saffron party is keen to field a strong candidate in Jubilee Hills and is in discussions with a former MLA. Naveen Yadav had in 2014 secured second place with over 25% votes. He beat Vishnuvardhan. In 2018 he had contested as independent unofficially backed by MIM and finished third position. This young contender has a strong hold and a major vote-bank.