Raja Singh facing headwinds

Gosha Mahal: The buzz is palpable. There is an air of excitement in Gosha Mahal constituency as candidates from various political parties make their way with supporters in the dusty by lanes. Raja Singh, who is known to be the big wig in his backyard is now seems a worried man. Reason being the coming together of TDP and the Congress. Another big name, Mukesh Goud, on the other hand is trying to encash the opportunity. 

In the past, TDP and Congress party crossed swords but this time around, the combined votes could spoil the plans of Raja Singh. Banking heavily on north Indian votes, Raja Singh is also worried that close to 60,000 bogus votes were deleted. According to rough estimates, Congress vote share is about 46,000 votes and since 2009, BJP vote bank is about 30,000 and TDP is about 22,000 votes.  Political pundits say that if one minority vote is polled for TRS, two would be for BJP. This is the slogan that is doing the rounds in the constituency. Raja Singh’s absence in last four years is also now going against him. He toured Maharashtra, Karnataka and other states on Hindu issues but failed to meet people in the constituency. Mukesh Goud is cashing on this aspect. 

Local leaders such as Begum Bazaar corporator Shankar Yadav, Laxman, who contested for corporator post from Gosha Mahal, Gunfoundry contestant Madhu Goud are not supporting Raja Singh as he did not work for them and it is alleged his meddling in allotting tickets is going against him. Mukesh Goud who lost in 2014 due to the Modi wave and also allegedly due to a steep increase in bogus votes (From 2,22,000 to 2, 86,000 votes) feels that he stands a better chance due to the changed political equations. 

It may be noted that Mukesh Goud’s entry into political arena in 1986 as Jambagh corporator has seen several twists and turns. He has the distinction of winning against Bandaru Dattatreya in 1994. In 2009, he defeated Prem Singh Rathod. Today, the electorate is 2, 32,225 after deletion of bogus votes and addition of 8,000 new voters. There is a 25,000-30,000 minority vote which could also play an important role in the outcome of the polls. In 2014, Raja Singh, the BJP candidate won and polled 92,757 votes, Mukesh Goud polled 44,964 votes, TRS 6,312 votes.  The Makutami candidate is hoping that the combined votes could help in winning. 

BY Venkatesh Pasunuru