SCB seat: BRS, Congress women candidates lock in tough fight

Hyderabad: With the stage prepared for Telangana Assembly elections, new female faces from Secunderabad Cantonment, including BRS candidate Lasya Nanditha and Congress candidate Dr Vennela, are vying for the MLA seat.

Both candidates have launched a full-fledged political campaign, knocking on every Cantonment resident's door. The Congress party recently nominated Dr G Vennela from the Secunderabad constituency, and both are contesting their first Assembly election this year. Both the women leaders have strong political foundations; Lasya Nanditha is the daughter of the late BRS MLA, late G Sayanna, who served as a five-time MLA of Secunderabad Cantonment Assembly constituency, which is the sole SC reserved constituency in the Hyderabad district, and Congress candidate Vennela is the daughter of the late Balladeer Gaddar.

Dr Vennela has started interacting with locals on the Congress party's theme of six guarantees, said, “By following my father's footsteps, who worked his entire life for the betterment of the marginalised community through his revolutionary songs, I too dedicated my life for the welfare of the people. All my childhood I saw how my father was connected to the general public, which inspired me to connect to them as well.”

It has just been three days since I started interacting with various communities and understanding their problems. Like other constituencies, Secunderabad Cantonment constituency lacks development of proper roads, educational institutions, and health centres, also convening the manifesto of the Congress party.”

Lasya Nanditha, who is pretty confident of her victory from the BRS ticket, said “I am well aware of the roots of Cantonment and as soon as my party announced my name, I started the door-to-door campaign”. Stretching about SCB bonding, she said, “Our main goal is to unite with GHMC because my father Sayanna was the only one who wrote a letter to the Central government requesting the merger. Once in power, I will pursue this, as it is the only viable and much-needed solution.” First and foremost, she is no stranger to politics, having served as a corporator in Kavadiguda in 2016 and lost to a 22-year-old BJP candidate Rachana Sri by a margin of 1,477 votes in 2020, she said.