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Hyderabad, Nov 9 (IANS) The Jubilee Hills bypoll is set for a tense and tough fight as the ruling Congress is making every effort to wrest the seat from the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), which is making even midnight attempts to make a comeback.
The constituency, located in the center of the Telangana capital, is headed by Chief Minister A. A prestige battle is being seen between Revanth Reddy and BRS working president KT Rama Rao, who had led the campaigns for their respective parties.
Though the bypoll outcome is not likely to have a direct impact on the Congress government, which looks strong with a strong majority, the Chief Minister knows that a BRS victory could help it come back to the political center stage after its humiliating defeat in the Lok Sabha elections.
The Congress defeat will not only boost the morale of BRS cadres ahead of the local body elections but will also embolden Revanth Reddy’s critics within the ruling party.
In this context, it was not surprising that the Chief Minister and his entire cabinet campaigned aggressively for Congress candidate Naveen Yadav.
While the bypoll is largely being seen as a straight fight between the Congress and BRS, the BJP is also making every possible effort to unsettle both the rivals.
BJP Union Minister and local MP G. Kishan Reddy, with the active participation of Union Minister of State Bandi Sanjay Kumar, state BJP President Ramachander Rao, party MPs and MLAs.
The stakes are high for all three major contestants in the by-election, necessitated by the death of sitting BRS MLA Maganti Gopinath.
BRS has fielded Gopinath’s wife Maganti Sunitha, while BJP has once again fielded Lankala Deepak Reddy, who had finished third in the 2023 elections.
Confident of retaining the seat, BRS has called it a referendum on the performance of the Congress government.
Claiming that there is a silent wave in favor of BRS, senior party leader T. Harish Rao termed the by-election as an event that will decide the future not just of four lakh voters but of four crore people of Telangana.
The bypoll is also important for the Congress party to strengthen itself in Greater Hyderabad, a region where it did not get any seats in the 2023 elections despite wresting power from BRS.
Although the victory in the Secunderabad Cantonment bypoll helped the Congress open its account, the ruling party will be keen to capture the BRS stronghold of Jubilee Hills to strengthen itself ahead of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) elections.
Jubilee Hills, a section of the Secunderabad Lok Sabha constituency, came into existence with the delimitation of constituencies in 2009.
The constituency takes its name from the posh area of Jubilee Hills, which is home to many celebrities and is famous as the center of Tollywood, but has many middle class, weaker class colonies and slums, which lack proper civic amenities.
The Congress party has blamed BRS for “failing” to develop the constituency during its 10-year rule, and the BJP has blamed both the Congress and BRS for poor civic amenities, as they have been representing the constituency since its formation.
While the Congress had captured the seat in 2009 when it retained power in the then united Andhra Pradesh, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) snatched the seat in 2014.
A few months after his victory on the TDP ticket, Maganti Gopinath switched allegiance to TRS (now BRS), which formed the first government in the newly created Telangana state.
In 2014, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) fielded its candidate Naveen Yadav, who lost to Gopinath by only 9,242 votes. Congress stood third while TRS stood fourth.
AIMIM had not fielded any candidate in 2018 to help its then ally TRS retain the seat.
Gopinath secured his second consecutive victory by defeating his nearest rival P. Vishnuvardhan Reddy of the Congress Party by 16,004 votes.
In 2023, the Congress party has fielded former Indian cricket captain and former MP Mohammad Azharuddin. In what many saw as an attempt to help BRS, AIMIM had fielded Rasheed Farazuddin.
BRS’s Gopinath had scored a hat-trick by defeating Azharuddin by 16337 votes. The BRS candidate got 80,549 votes while Azharuddin got 64,212 votes. BJP’s L. Deepak Reddy stood third with 25,866 votes. AIMIM’s Farazuddin finished fourth with just 7,848 votes.
This time the prospects of the Congress party have been strengthened with the support of AIMIM.
Asaduddin Owaisi-led AIMIM, which had supported BRS during its 10-year rule, has joined hands with the Congress after coming to power in 2023.
AIMIM has decided not to contest the elections and has announced support to Congress candidate Naveen Yadav, who had contested the elections on an AIMIM ticket in 2014 and was the runner-up.
In 2018, Naveen Yadav contested the election as an independent and stood third. He joined Congress ahead of the 2023 elections.
The high-voltage campaign for the by-election also saw a dramatic development as Mohammad Azharuddin was inducted into the state cabinet.
This was seen as an attempt to blunt BRS’s attack on the lack of Muslim representation in the cabinet, although it has been almost two years since the Congress formed the government.
The move was also seen as an attempt to woo Muslims, who constitute about 35 percent of the four lakh voters.
BRS described Azharuddin’s induction as a desperate move, saying the ruling party realized that its “betrayal of the people” on the six guarantees and other promises made ahead of the 2023 assembly elections would cost it dearly in the Jubilee Hills bypoll.
BJP tried to capitalize on Congress’s efforts to woo Muslim voters. It had also urged the Election Commission not to allow cabinet expansion.
Chief Minister Revanth Reddy’s comment, “If Congress exists, Muslims exist”, also created a storm during the campaign, with the opposition BRS and several Muslim groups demanding an apology from him.
The Chief Minister, who campaigned in Muslim-dominated areas along with local AIMIM leaders, clarified that his remarks were distorted.
Azharuddin and government advisor Mohammad Ali Shabbir also defended the chief minister, saying his comments were meant to highlight the Congress party’s historical association and affinity with Muslims.
BJP leaders sharply criticized the Chief Minister for “Muslim appeasement” and termed the by-election as a fight between the BJP and AIMIM.
Union Minister of State Bandi Sanjay, citing the Chief Minister’s comment, “Congress means Muslim. Muslim means Congress”, termed Congress as a party of Muslims.
He alleged that Congress along with AIMIM is trying to make Telangana an ‘Islamic state’.
The firebrand BJP leader also called on Hindus to create a vote bank to counter Congress, BRS and AIMIM.
Bandi Sanjay also made fun of the CM for wearing a cap to vote. He remarked, “If the day comes when I have to wear a cap to vote, I would rather have my head chopped off. I am a fearless Hindu.”
Reacting to Bandi Sanjay’s call for Hindus to unite as a vote bank, CM Revanth Reddy asked him if the BJP loses the bypolls, would he accept that “Hindus are not with the BJP”.
–IANS
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