Poll fever grips city

• Notification to the polls: April 2

• Last date for Nominations: April 9
• Last date for withdrawal of Nominations: April 12
• Polling: April 30

The Greater Hyderabad has 3 Parliament and 24 Assembly constituencies. In 2009, out of the 24 Assembly constituencies, 13 were won by the Congress, 7 by the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), two by the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), one each by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Loksatta Party. With the Telangana state being formed, it is widely expected that the swing will be in Favour of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS)

Excitement grips Greater Hyderabad again with general elections 2014. As many as 70.37 lakh voters in Greater Hyderabad are set to exercise their franchise in the polls to be held on April 30. However, this election will be a lot different from that of 2009.

The Greater Hyderabad has 3 Parliament and 24 Assembly constituencies. In 2009, out of the 24 Assembly constituencies, 13 were won by the Congress, 7 by the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), two by the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), one each by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Loksatta Party. With the Telangana state being formed, it is widely expected that the swing will be in favour of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS).

Advantage TRS

TRS chief K Chandrasekhar Rao’s no to merger with the Congress party and his subsequent statement that it is likely to enter into a pre-poll agreement with likeminded parties like the AIMIM and the Left parties means it’s advantage TRS. With strong Telangana sentiment across the Greater Hyderabad region, TRS party men expect that there will be a swing in the votes. Experts claim that apart from the seven Assembly constituencies in the Old City, TRS is expected to be a strong contender for the rest of the seats.

TDP eyes Seemandhra population dominated areas From the time of its inception, the TDP has a strong party cadre in Telangana, Greater Hyderabad in particular. However, in these polls it is either do or die for the TDP. Analysts say that Chandrababu’s ‘two-eye’ theory spelled doom for the party in Telangana. They claim that the TDP will put up a strong show among the Seemandhra population dominated areas in regions like Malkajgiri, Kukatpally, Serilingampally and LB Nagar.

Few do claim that the recent claim of Chandrababu Naidu that Telangana needs a Chief Minister (CM) from the Backward Classes (BC) community might give the much needed life support to TDP’s chances. Apart from the AIMIM and the BJP, the leaders of other parties in the Greater Hyderabad region belong to the BC community. BC voters who constitute about 50 per cent of voters in the Greater Hyderabad region will be the king makers for all the parties.

AIMIM keen on foothold in Secunderabad

The AIMIM is the undisputed king of the Old City which makes up bulk of the Hyderabad Parliamentary constituencies. The party of late has made its presence in constituencies like Musheerabad, Goshamahal, Jubilee Hills and Amberpet. Analysts claim that the AIMIM candidates will put up a strong show in these constituencies.

AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi’s announcement that it will contest for the Secunderabad Parliamentary constituency speaks about the AIMIM’s determination to establish a keen foothold in the region. Though the party has severed its ties with the Congress, analysts believe that it might support the Congress post polls.

AIMIM candidates are expected to win all the seven seats they had won in the 2009 polls. Party sources say that they might face some opposition in Nampally and Chandrayan Gutta constituencies but expressed confidence to clinch all the seven constituencies in the Old City. These include Charminar, Nampally, Chandrayan Gutta, Karwan, Malakpet, Yakutpura and Bhadurpura.

Anti-incumbency hits Congress

There are 13 sitting MLAs for the Congress party in the Greater Hyderabad region. Analysts say that the Congress might not save all the seats this time though the partymen claim that it is Sonia Gandhi who created the Telangana state and KCR took all the honours for it. TRS’s no to merger with the party means its chances to win a majority of seats in the region has scuppered. Added to this the contestants have to brave the strong anti-incumbency factor.

Congress party sources say that there is uncertainty in the ranks. It is rumoured that Goshamahal sitting MLA Mukesh Goud has his eyes on the Secunderabad Lok Sabha seat and is keen on fielding his brother and son for Goshamahal and Musheerabad seats. However, sitting MP Anjan Kumar Yadav is in no mood to relinquish his seat. He is also eying Musheerabad seat for his son.

Analysts predict that though Jubilee Hills sitting MLA Vishnu Vardhan Reddy faces strong fight from the AIMIM candidate, he is expected to win his seat. Marri Sashidhar Reddy is also expected to win from Sanath Nagar. Khairatabad MLA Danam Nagendar might face strong fight from TDP’s Vijayarama Rao. However, most interesting is the Secunderabad Assembly constituency. There is much opposition against sitting MLA Jayasudha, both in the party as well as public due to strong anti-incumbency.

Analysts say that anti-incumbency will also hit sitting MLAs like Bhikshapati Yadav (Serilingampally), Sudhir Reddy (LB Nagar), Raji Reddy (Uppal), Akula Rajendar (Malkajgiri) and P Sankara Rao (Cantonment).

Lone Wolfs

Though the BJP will field candidates in all the Assembly constituencies, only BJP state president and Amberpet sitting MLA Kishan Reddy is expected to win his seat comfortably. In the case of Loksatta Party, it is widely rumoured that the Kukatpally sitting MLA and party chieftain Jayaprakash Narayan will contest for the Parliamentary seat.

Party sources say that he might contest from Seemandhra but Malkajgiri Parliamentary constituency is also on the cards.

City gears up

Kukatpally, Serilingampally, Uppal, Malkajgiri, Qutubullapur, Rajendranagar and LB Nagar have high percentage of young voters. Statistics with election commission state that 51.66 per cent of voters there are under 40.

A special election cell was constituted a week before the model code of conduct came into force. The cell headed by Additional Commissioner of Police Anjani Kumar has hit the ground. It has registered 401 bindover cases.

“About 1429 rowdy sheeters, 236 communal sheeters and 762 history sheeters in the city would be taken into custody a week before the polls, so that they would be unable to influence polls and would be released after the polls,” according to an officer with the special election cell.

There are 9429 licensed weapon voters in the city. According to the poll code the weapons should be in police custody till the completion of polls. Police say that they might give exception to ATM security guards and army personnel upon submitting a self-declaration form. So far police have 770 weapons in their custody.

Reports suggest that in addition to the existing force the police have sought 50 more companies of police force.