HYDERABAD: IT is no more going to be a cakewalk for TRS pick Maganti Gopinath in Jubilee Hills as was expected till about a couple of weeks ago. Interestingly, the one giving Gopinath a run for his money is not the Grand Alliance candidate P Vishnuvardhan Reddy, who has the support of Congress, TDP, TJS and CPI cadre. It’s V Naveen Yadav, who is contesting as an Independent.
Though it is still too early to speculate if Naveen has a clear lead, his supporters can be seen actively approaching the public and interacting with them, across the roads and bylanes of the vast constituency. Few workers of TRS in the area, including the local in-charge, are now supporting 30-year-old Naveen, who contested on an AIMIM ticket the last time and lost to Gopinath by 4,000 votes.
Jubilee Hills is not any other constituency. It has the ultra-rich neighbourhoods of the State sitting cheek by jowl with large slums. It is the hub of the Telugu film industry and residence of politicians and bureaucrats. “There is going to be a tough fight between Naveen and the TRS pick,” says B Harish, a resident of Rahmath Nagar.
“Naveen is a local lad. His father works in the film industry and he has good relationship there. He knows our problems and wills stand by us,” says Harish. Naveen, for his part, says he is confident of facing polls. “I am confident of victory by a huge majority. The ex-MLA is a non-local candidate who failed to develop the constituency,” says Naveen. “Last time, I lost by a small margin of votes. But, I have always been connected with people and accessible to them. Everyone in the area knows it,” adds Naveen. But not all are convinced. M Lakshmi, a vegetable vendor from Moti Nagar, feels it will be a one-sided contest in favour of TRS. “We want more development in our localities and we believe only TRS can transform our lives,” she says.
Congress candidate Vishnuvardhan Reddy, she claims, has not visited the area even once in the last 4.5 years. “He can only win sympathy votes in the name of his late father P Janardhan Reddy,” says Lakshmi. Her theory seems to be right, as the Congress pick lacks support on ground going by our interactions with voters.