TRS way ahead; Congress, Telugu Desam aspirants in a fix

If there is an Assembly segment that people are keenly watching out this December elections, it is Sanathnagar. More so, this year as there is an uncertainty over which party will contest from the constituency. Aspirants of both Congress and Telugu Desam are an anxious lot. Talasani Srinivas Yadav, caretaker minister and TRS candidate, Marri Shashidar Reddy from Congress Party, Kuna Venkatesh Goud from TDP are frontrunners

Given the fragmented nature of the present polity, the car symbol seems to hold sway in its geographical fiefdom but in politics, the game is never over till the last vote is polled. As on date, Talasani Srinivas, TRS candidate, has already started his campaign and is working at frantic pace to consolidate his position. Though TDP and Congress are yet to declare their candidates, the aspirants of both the parties have already started the campaign and are touring various colonies across the constituency. BJP, however, seems to be lagging behind other parties though it has a good cadre base.

Grand Alliance (Mahakutami) of Congress, Telugu Desam, TJS and CPI seem to causing headache for the aspirants of the respective parties. Uncertainty over which party will contest from the constituency seems to be worrying the aspirants of both Congress and Telugu Desam. Marri Shashidar is most likely to be the Congress party candidate, if GA permits Congress to contest from the constituency.

Meanwhile, from TDP, Kuna Venkatesh Goud is leaving no stone unturned to contest from the seat. Party workers from both Congress and TDP, however, are clueless about the state of affairs. Sanathnagar has always been the most talked constituency in Greater Hyderabad. Marri Shashidhar has contested for six times, from 1991 to 2014, and won four times. In 2014 elections, he lost to Talasani Srinivas, who then contested from TDP but shifted to TRS.

Telugu Desam in-charge of the constituency Kuna Venkatesh also has good hold on the constituency and may most likely be declared as the party candidate. If there were no Grand Alliance, both could have been declared as candidates by the respective parties. In 2014 elections, Talasani won the seat by huge margin over the TRS candidate D Vittal. Congress candidate secured third place in that elections. Kuna Venkatesh tried for the TDP seat in 2014 but the party asked him to contest from Secunderabad constituency. Aspirants of the both the parties are assuring their cadre that their party will contest from the seat. Which party gets the opportunity to contest needs to be seen.

Strong presence of BJP cadre

BJP has strong cadre in Sanathnagar, Ameerpet, Ramgopalpet, Bansilalpet divisions of the constituency. The party is in look out for a strong candidate. As per the party sources, Pradeep, relative of the former minister Dattatreya, may get the opportunity to contest the seat. It is learnt that Pradeep is in touch with high command and is putting all his efforts to get the party ticket.

Primary areas

The primary areas of the constituency include Ameerpet, SR Nagar, Balkampet, Bansilalpet, Begumpet, Bholakpur, Gandhinagar, Monda market, Mahankali street, Nallagutta, Gas mandi, Padmarao Nagar, Patigadda, Ramgopalpet, Sanath Nagar and Subash Road. In 2014, 1,24,746 voters cast their vote out of total 2,20,969 votes, which is 56.45% of the total voting. TDP’s Talasani Srinivas secured 45.27% of votes polled, followed by TRS’ D Vittal who secured 23.25% of votes polled. Congress got 19.09% of votes.

Advantage Talasani

Talasani seems to have got advantage over other candidates. In the last GHMC elections six TRS women corporators won from the constituency and he played a key role in their victory. On the other hand, Marri Shashidar Reddy is attracting a lot of attention with his fight against the ruling party. He has filed a petition against voter deletion in high court. Voters of Andhra origin (settlers) have significant presence in the constituency and are expected to play key role in elections. In 2014 elections, TDP won the seat mainly with settlers’ votes. It is interesting to know how Andhra voters vote in this election. Muslim voters can also play an important role in swinging the fortunes of the parties.