Advantage to TRS in SCB election

SCB election a litmus test for TDP-BJP combine

Hyderabad: The election to Secunderabad Cantonment Board, which is gaining political momentum in the run up to GHMC polls, is bound to prove to be a litmus test for the BJP-TDP combine. The election result will make it clear whether the BJP and TDP continue to be hold sway in the city like it did in the recent General Election or if the combine has lost its political sheen.

The election assumes significance importance from the TRS point of view for if the results tilt towards its party, it would give a shot in the arm for Commercial Taxes Minister Talsani Srinivas Yadav, who recently quit TDP to join TRS. Given the social composition of the Sanatnagar constituency, which has a majority of people from Seemandhra, the minister is wary about contesting for the byelection from here.

The TRS party, which is leaving no stone unturned to ensure victory, believes that eight-ward cantonment election would be a gateway to make a foothold in Hyderabad politics. So far the party did not have strong political presence. It did not contest the GHMC election even when the agitation for separate Telangana was at its peak. Hence the pink party now wants to emerge as a political force to be reckoned with.

It has pressed all its top leaders, including ministers like T Harish Rao and over four MLAs to campaign for the candidates supported by them. According to unconfirmed reports, Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, who is personally monitoring the campaigning, is talking to the key people in the cantonment region.

According to political analysts, TRS appears to be way ahead of other parties in the elections. The reason they attribute is that many of the leaders who were in TDP and Congress and had been playing significant role in cantonment politics migrated to TRS. This has crippled the TDP which was so far considered to be a force in the cantonment area. Cantonment has large number of people who are from different districts of Telangana and this could prove to be advantageous for the TRS. This factor, analysts say, will help the TRS give a tough fight even in areas which are considered to have good number of Seemandhra population.

Though the elite population too is in significant numbers, the TRS feels that this section would not go to the polling booths. The TRS is banking on the votes of the slum areas under the Cantonment limits. The party has promised that it would regularise their lands and give pattas to the slum-dwellers if their candidates were elected.

The TDP, which is facing an uphill task, feels that the non-Telangana voters will help them win a few seats. The BJP is pinning hopes on the north Indian voters and the Namo factor. However, TRS feels that the north Indian voters would prefer the ruling party as they are not anti-TRS and what matters for them is development of the cantonment area. The Congress, which is riddled with internal bickering, is not sure of making any mark this time.