HYDERABAD: Even as the Congress is intensifying its efforts in districts of both south and north Telangana and targeting traditional vote banks, the party high command is keen on making inroads into the Assembly segments in Greater Hyderabad limits.
Insiders said that the Congress is keen to win several key Assembly segments and hence is paying special attention to seats like Jubilee Hills, Khairatabad, Musheerabad, Serilingampally, Rajendranagar, Kukatpally and LB Nagar.
In Jubilee Hills, the party has nominated former Indian cricket captain and ex-MP Md Azharuddin, hoping to tap the sizable Muslim vote in the segment. Azharuddin has to contest against the incumbent BRS MLA as well as Md Farasuddin of the AIMIM.
The Congress has been bolstered by the exit of independent candidate K Naveen Yadav who, the party hopes, would be able to transfer his significant vote bank to its candidates.
Former MP Madhu Yashki Goud has been fielded from the LB Nagar seat and the party hopes his roots in Hayathnagar will help gain crucial votes. The Congress is going all-out in this segment as the incumbent MLA was elected on its ticket but shifted allegiance to the BRS.
PJR’s daughter in fray in Khairatabad
The grand old party has nominated P Vijaya Reddy, daughter of the late P Janardhan Reddy (PJR) in Khairatabad. The party hopes the sympathy factor will come into play and Vijaya Reddy will win the seat.
In Serilingampally, the Congress has chosen Manikonda municipal chairman Kasturi Narender. The Congress is hoping Narender will be able to swing the substantial Muslim voters in its favour. Former Secunderabad MP Anjan Kumar Yadav is the party’s candidate for the Musheerabad Assembly seat. Yadav has a strong base which the Congress hopes will be enough for him to win the seat.
In Kukatpally, the party has nominated Kamma community leader Bandi Ramesh as it aims to appeal to the settler vote bank in the segment. Despite winning only one seat in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation in the 2018 Assembly elections, the Congress remains optimistic about a potential electoral wave favouring them in the district. The Congress hopes that these strategic moves will be able to break into the stranglehold the BRS, AIMIM and BJP have maintained in the GHMC limits.