HYDERABAD: Fifteen years is a long time, especially in politics. BJP strongman G Kishan Reddy reigned over Amberpet for that long, winning three consecutive elections. But, can he beat the strong anti-incumbency and repeat his magic this time again? That’s the talk of the Amberpet town.
Electrician S Raj Kumar, a native of Karnataka, has been residing in Amberpet for over two decades now. He says he has no idea what the MLA has done for his constituency till now. “I have not seen him much in the last four years as compared to his first two terms. A majority of work which he has done was during his first two terms,” he said. Many others feel the same way, and are looking towards TRS candidate Kaleru Venkatesh, wondering if he is the alternative. “Kishan Reddy is good but we have seen him all this while. Venkatesh is also a really good person considering that he was a corporator. There is going to be a tough competition among the two,” points out a young businessman, B Lalith Kumar of Nimboliadda.
For many like Lalith who are considering options, the real deal breaker would be the demonetisation and the introduction of GST into the economy. The two have, in particular, pushed the business persons in the dense commercial localities to incur additional expenses. This was laced with disrupting the informal economy that is largely concentrated in Chappal Bazar.
“People have not got a chance to reply to the evils of demonetisation and GST that has affected a lot of people at large,” pointed R Laxman Yadav who is eyeing to win from the Congress ticket, this time. “There is a lot of anti-incumbency that will act in our favour,” added a confident Yadav. He alleged that Reddy was looking to contest as an MP from Secunderabad seat if Assembly elections were to be held in 2019 due to which he hasn’t given enough time for the development of the constituency.
Even in a lot of weaker section colonies, several promises are yet to be fulfilled, locals observe. At Sanjay Gandhi basthi, the main issue is the stench of Musi and the growing menace of mosquitoes. “The retaining walls here and at neighbouring basthis including Kishan Nagar, Kachiguda Kammela, Lanka, Moosarambagh are yet to be built,” said M Elaiah, a local.
Less competition
But what favours Reddy is the numbers with which he had emerged victorious in the 2014 Assembly elections. With 81,430 votes, he registered a victory as 55 per cent of vote share was his strength. The closest to him was TRS candidate A Sudhakar Reddy who got 18,791 votes. Now, considering that even AIMIM will not be contesting the Assembly segment, the competition is much less.
Our main fight is with TRS: Laxman
For BJP State President K Laxman, the TRS is the only opposition in the State. Laxman while interacting at a ‘Meet the Press’ programme organised by Telangana Union of Working Journalists pointed out that their contestation to fight all the Assembly seats, except one, was an indication that its graph has improved. “With so many seats to look forward to, our main competition is the TRS. The Congress is like a dead snake which has formed a failed alliance,” said Laxman. “If the manifesto of the Congress is in the Amaravathi, the TRS manifesto is in Darussallam,” he added. “We will build 1 lakh houses every year. If we don’t, we will pay `5,000 as rent to the ones who were not paid rent,” he promised.