HYDERABAD: It appears that being a ‘businessman’ has become a prerequisite for contesting an election. When Express went through the final list of candidates contesting in the GHMC polls, it was found that nearly 75 per cent of all the male candidates in the fray were ‘businessmen’. Meanwhile, most woman candidates are housewives. Only a handful of the contestants are professionals or private company employees. A majority of such candidates are not backed by any political parties and are contesting as independent candidates. There are also around 30 students and one daily-wage worker in the fray.
Speaking to Express, one of the student candidates, 21-year-old M Karthik Yadav, who is pursuing BCom degree and contesting from the Gudimalkapur division, said: “None of the political parties are interested in giving tickets to someone who is not rich, even in the GHMC elections. The MLAs and MPs give priority only to those people of their liking and those who are ready to spend lots of money. We youth do not get a chance to contest in the polls, even if we are interested.”
He added, “I was associated with the youth wing of a national party for more than six years. I am really keen on doing something good for my area. But, I was not given a ticket by that party.”Sangipet Naresh Kumar, a 31-year-old daily-wage worker who resides in the Valmiki Ambedkar Awas Yojana colony in Nandanvanam, is contesting as an independent candidate from Champapet. He said: “It does not matter which political party wins. In the end, the issues remain unresolved. No party would support a poor man’s ambition to contest in politics.”