Khairatabad: Will Danam save Congress bastion?

Once the largest constituencies in the state, Khairatabad was divided into four constituencies i.e. Khairatabad, Jubilee Hills, Kukatpally and Seri Lingampally, post delimitation in 2009. Himayath Nagar, Khairatabad, Shaikpet, Panjagutta, Ameerpet, Banjara Hills and Jubilee Hills segments form the constituency. There are a total of 2,58,115 voters with 1,33,788 male voters and 1,24,327 female voters. Young voters form 57.84 per cent of the voters with the count at 1,49,299. Former minister Danam Nagendar is the sitting MLA.

The constituency has a mix of residential and commercial areas. It houses basthis as well as posh colonies. There were slew of developmental works undertaken in the constituency. These include construction of storm water drains, relaying of Concrete Cement (CC) and Bituminous (BT) roads etc.

Being a commercial hub of the city the constituency has perennial traffic issues. Drinking water is a problem in slums and colonies alike. Though the posh segments in the colony look spic and span, the basthis suffer from lack of proper maintenance. Drainage is a perennial issue in many slums.

The biggest problem in the constituency is that of encroachments. Land is the costliest commodity here and many allege that encroachments are common, be it a slum or a posh colony. It has to be noted that the Lok Satta Party in its previous manifesto had mentioned, “Most of the patta lands are not registered. For the few that are registered, you cannot even move a stone there without permission of some local goondas.” The situation isn’t any better now.

In the 10 polls that the constituency saw from 1967, the Congress won eight times, while the TDP and an independent won once each. Late P Janardhan Reddy (PJR) was informally called as the ‘Khairatabad King’. He once proudly claimed, “Ee Khairatabad lo nannu odinchevadu evadu? (Who can defeat me in this Khairatabad constituency?)” This statement speaks volumes of the Congress party’s hold in the constituency. However this time, Danam Nagender might see some opposition from his party as well. Reports from Gandhi Bhavan suggest that there are some factions in the party that are against Danam Nagendar.

K Vijayarama Rao of the TDP, who won the seat in 1999 polls, will pose a strong threat to Congress’ this time. The party has a strong cadre in all the segments. In the 2009 polls Chintala Ramachandra Rao contested from the BJP. With reports of a possible alliance with the TDP, things might work in TDP’s favour as the total number of voters polled for Vijayarama Rao and Ramachandra Rao are more than the votes polled for Danam Nagender.

Both Congress and TDP are facing threat from PJR’s daughter Vijaya Reddy. PJR was a strong leader and is still remembered by many in the constituency for his developmental works. Now with his daughter contesting from the YSRCP ticket, it will certainly swing votes.

TRS, meanwhile, is quite confident of its chances pinning hopes on the ‘T’ wave.