Central govt staff, non-TS natives hold the key in Malkajgiri

Hyderabad: Central government employees, including railways and defence personnel, and natives of Andhra Pradesh and certain other States, who form a sizeable chunk of voters, hold the key in deciding the winner in the Malkajgiri Lok Sabha constituency, which is the biggest parliamentary seat in the country.

There are over 31 lakh voters in the Malkajgiri Lok Sabha constituency, which is referred to as 'Mini India' as people from several states reside here. There are voters from Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan and other states, mainly because of the preponderance of central government departments like Railways, Defence, factories in the Assembly segments under the constituency.

The Malkajgiri Lok Sabha constituency comprises Assembly segments like Medchal, Malkajgiri, Secunderabad-Cantonment, Quthbullahpur, Kukatpally, Uppal and LB Nagar.

While the Telangana Rashtra Samithi was victorious in six out of the seven constituencies, the lone Congress MLA in the segment from L B Nagar too has pledged support to the ruling party.

The natives of Andhra Pradesh are strong in three to four Assembly segments and the population is somewhat mixed in three segments. There are small-scale industries, factories in the constituency and many labourers from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh and other states have made it their home.

Political parties are clueless about the present mood of voters as the locals say that there will be effect of 'national politics' in the constituency. Telugu Desam Party had a strong presence here prior to 2014. The TDP candidate Ch Malla Reddy, given tie-up with BJP, had won from this constituency during the 2014 election.

However, with the virtual rout of the Telugu Desam from the State, the leaders joined TRS, including the Malkajgiri MP.

It will be interesting to see which side traditional voters would tilt in the coming election. The Telugu Desam is yet to announce its candidate for the constituency. The leadership wants to support the Congress candidate, but TDP leader Kothakota Dayakar Reddy expressed his willingness to contest election from this constituency.

As per data provided by the Election Commission, there are 30,98,816 voters including 16,13,001 male, 14,85,504 female and 311 third-gender voters. The biggest Assembly segment in terms of voters is Quthbullahpur and smallest is Secunderabad-Cantonment.

Locals said that the one who can get over six lakh votes in his favour would win the election. The TRS has fielded M Rajashekar Reddy, son-in-law of Minister Ch Malla Reddy. While the Congress party has fielded A Revanth Reddy, the BJP has nominated N Ramchander Rao for the constituency.