HYDERABAD: After a long and arduous election campaign, the fate of candidates fighting for the Malkajgiri constituency -- TRS’ Rajasekhar Reddy, Congress’ Revanth Reddy and BJP’s N Ramchander Rao -- will be decided on Thursday, after what is expected to be a nail-biting contest. The candidates promised the people of the constituency, the largest in the country, ‘development’.
If Rajasekhar wins, it will be TRS’ first-ever victory in the segment. Former MP Ch Malla Reddy, the father-in-law of Rajasekhar, had won the seat in 2014 on a TDP ticket. He defected to TRS within a couple of years. For Congress, Malkajgiri is one of the few places where they can realistically hope for a win. A favourable result for candidate A Revanth Reddy will be a massive boost to both, Reddy’s career and Congress in Telangana. Revanth will be hoping for success after having lost his second re-election bid from Kodangal Assembly segment in December 2018.
Voter turnout
The turnout in the constituency this year was an abysmal 49.40 per cent, much less compared to figures recorded during the Assembly elections. More than half of the 31 lakh-electorate gave polling a miss.
Most people feed TRS will gain the seat this time. Congress will be the runner-up, while the educated class might vote for BJP, opine most.
While Rajasekhar Reddy is relying on schemes rolled out by the State government, Revanth hopes the young voter base will have chosen him. Revanth is one of the most popular leaders in the Telangana, famous for his criticism of the TRS party and infamous for his alleged role in the cash-for-vote scam from 2015. BJP, like elsewhere in the country, is trying to ride the ‘Modi wave’. The Seemandhra ‘settler’ population is also expected to play an important role in the constituency.