Maheshwaram constituency: Infighting among leaders may prove costly for ruling party

♦ A triangular contest is on cards among the BRS, BJP and Congress. The local factor will play a crucial role; locals say except for Minister P Sabita Indra Reddy all others are locals in the constituency

♦ It has been a Congress bastion as Sabita won in 2009 and 2018. In 2014, Teegala Krishna Reddy had won on Telugu Desam ticket. Sabita later joined the BRS and has been focusing on the segment

♦ While the BRS has retained Sabita, other two major parties, the Congress and the BJP, are yet to decide on their candidates. There are over four lakh voters in the constituency. There are some votes from the minority sections; however they may not have a big impact as these voters are concentrated only in the Jalpally area

Hyderabad: Infighting among the BRS leaders may prove costly for the ruling party in the coming elections in the Maheshwaram constituency, even as the Opposition parties are trying to match up to wrest the seat.

The constituency falls in Ranga Reddy district, which has all rural, semi-urban and urban areas; real estate has brought in a lot of changes in this segment. There are many software companies, Pharma City, Fab City, Amazon Data Centre and a few other organisations.

The constituency has municipal areas like Tukkuguda, Jalpally, Meerpet and Badangpet, rural areas like Kandukur and two GHMC divisions of Saroornagar and RK Puram. It has been a bastion for the Congress party as P Sabita Indra Reddy won in 2009 and 2018. In 2014, Teegala Krishna Reddy had won on Telugu Desam ticket. Sabita later joined the BRS and has been focusing on the segment.

While the BRS has retained the ticket to Minister Sabita, other two major parties, the Congress and the BJP, are yet to decide on their candidates. There are over four lakh voters in the constituency. There are some votes from the minority sections; however they may not have a big impact as these voters are concentrated only in the Jalpally area.

Sabita has been banking on development work by virtue of being a minister and taking up development works in the constituency. Along with development her family has been serving people through their family-run trust. However, the big challenge would be unhappy leaders in the segment. Locals say all would depend on the role to be played by former MLA Teegala Krishna Reddy.

He was at loggerheads with Sabita, openly opposing her candidature in the past. He wanted at least the ticket to be given to her daughter-in-law Anita Reddy, who is ZP chairperson. But he has not seen opposing much after the party declared ticket to Sabita.

Another BRS leader, Kotha Manohar Reddy, has joined the Congress after getting assurance from the party, said the locals. Similarly, the Badangpet mayor P Narasimha Reddy also joined the Congress. Another leader Depa Bhaskar Reddy's close association with the PCC chief A Revanth Reddy is said to be advantageous for him.

The BJP is also strong in the constituency and has several aspirants. The BJP has won in Tukkuguda municipality and Saroornagar divisions in GHMC. The party has big hopes here; it has organised a big public meeting of Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

Among the aspirants, Andela Sriramulu Yadav is said to be the front runner. He had earlier contested and secured close to 40,000 votes in 2018. Along with him is T Veerender Goud, the son of former minister T Devender Goud. Saroornagar corporator Akula Srivani is also trying for ticket.

A triangular contest is on cards between the BRS, BJP and Congress in this segment.

The local factor will also play a crucial role here as the locals said that except for Sabita all others are locals in the constituency.