HYDERABAD: The Secunderabad Cantonment Board (SCB) will go to polls by the end of this year. Till now, TRS had believed these elections will be a cakewalk for its candidates. But the election of Congress’ Revanth Reddy from Malkajgiri Lok Sabha segment, of which Secunderabad Cantonment is a part, the equations might have changed a bit. Congress’s performance has exceeded the expectations of its own loyal party workers.
From an abysmal performance in the 2018 Assembly elections, it claimed three Lok Sabha seats on Thursday. Revanth Reddy, who had lost at Kodangal Assembly segment, has breathed fresh life into Congressmen by defeating TRS’ Marri Rajashekar Reddy, son-in-law of minister Ch Malla Reddy. In the 2015 SCB elections, TRS had won seven seats, while Congress had won one. The lone Congress ward member too later defected to TRS.
One of the key issues faced by Cantonment residents has been the closure of roads. They believe their representatives have failed to get these roads, closed down by the Local Military Authority (LMA), reopened. In spite of Ministry of Defence (MoD) instructions to the LMA, directing it to reopen all closed roads in the Cantonment area, allowing civilians to commute, the current Board members have failed to get them implemented. Residents have since taken their fight online, exposing the TRS’ ‘failures’. Resident have also been asked the Central and State governments to merge the Cantonment into the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC). However, these proposals have not materialised due to various reasons.
Speaking to Express, T Satish Gupta, Congress leader who contested unsuccessfully in last SCB elections, said that Revanth Reddy’s win in the Lok Sabha elections will indeed boost the morale of party cadre in the Cantonment. “We are confident about our prospects in the upcoming Board elections,” he said.
On the other hand, TRS leaders in the region claim voters will continue to back the pink party, thanks to the State government’s welfare schemes and programmes.