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Journalism of Courage
With some of the poshest neighbourhoods and expensive real estate in Hyderabad, and also some of the city’s poorest slums, Jubilee Hills in the heart of Telangana’s capital will be a constituency that will be closely tracked in the coming polls on November 30.
The Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) that has renominated incumbent MLA Maganti Gopinath, the Congress has former cricketer Mohammad Azharuddin leading the charge down the poll pitch and the BJP candidate is its executive committee member Lankala Deepak Kumar. What has made this battle a tricky one is the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), a BRS ally, fielding its candidate Mohammed Rashed Farazuddin who is a municipal corporator with a lot of pull in the Shaikpet division.
Azharuddin’s hand has been strengthened by the decision of real estate businessman V Naveen Yadav to withdraw from the contest. In 2014, the AIMIM fielded Yadav and he ended up securing 41,656 votes and damaging the prospects of then incumbent MLA Vishnuvardhan Reddy of the Congress. Gopinath, then with the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), won the election. Four years later, Yadav again played spoilsport for the Congress as the 18,817 votes he polled again ruined Vishnuvardhan Reddy’s chances of winning back the constituency. This time, after withdrawing his nomination at the last moment, the businessman met Azharuddin and is likely to support him.
Sources in the AIMIM said the party was in the fray to divide the Muslim votes and ensure they don’t go to Azharuddin. “The AIMIM has decided to field a candidate only to help the BRS against the Congress. AIMIM will split the Muslim vote,” said a Congress leader.
Syed Salauddin, who contested on an Aam Aadmi Party ticket in 2018, said, “In Erragadda, Rehmatnagar, Yousufguda, and Shaikpet, the number of Muslim voters has increased due to internal migration and various other reasons.”
According to social activist Shaik Ghose Pasha, overburdened civic infrastructure with overflowing drains and traffic congestion on broken and narrow roads in the poorer areas are the major issues. “There are densely populated neighbourhoods such as Fatimangar, Masjidgadda, Natrajnagar, Sultannagar, Rehmatnagar, Kalyannagar, Borabanda, Habibfatima Nagar, Karmik Nagar, and Sriram Nagar. Road widening or laying of new drainage lines has not happened in years. There is a serious law-and-order issue too with rampant drug and marijuana sales in these areas. On Gandhi Jayanti, locals held a protest against police inaction against drug peddlers,” Pasha said.
If elected, Mohammed Azharuddin said he would focus on the betterment of the slums and low-income colonies. “Right now they are in a pathetic condition. Lack of drainage lines and narrow roads are major problems in those areas. People are living in bad conditions,’’ he said.
Gopinath who is eyeing a hat-trick of victories said though he had done a lot of work in the constituency a lot more needs to be done. Though the AIMIM says it is contesting to help its ally, some BRS leaders in the constituency said they were worried that the minority vote would split in such a way that it would end up benefitting the Congress.
