THE HINDU
2 Thursday, November 16, 2023
L.B. Nagar constituency,
where hopes run high
across all political camps
Swathi Vadlamudi
HYDERABAD
The ‘settler’ component
has come to be an impor­
tant factor which could de­
termine the representation
in certain constituencies in
peripheral parts of Hydera­
bad city, after formation of
Telangana as a separate
State. One such key consti­
tuency is Lal Bahadur Na­
gar, known commonly as
L.B. Nagar — third largest
constituency in the Greater
Hyderabad and fourth in
the State in terms of voter
numbers.
One of the seven As­
sembly segments of the
Malkajgiri parliamentary
constituency, L.B. Nagar
has over 5.93 lakh voters, a
majority of them below 50
years of age. Considering
that the voter strength has
grown by 48% from just ov­
er 4 lakh last elections, the
constituency seems to
have undergone vigorous
phase of voter enrolment
this time.
One more interesting
fact about the constituency
is its history of anti­incum­
bency since the formation
of Telangana as a separate
state. In the 2014 elections
just before Telangana
emerged as a separate
state, TDP candidate Ryaga
Krishnaiah won from the
constituency, replacing sit­
ting MLA D. Sudheer Red­
dy of the Congress. TRS
(now BRS) candidate
M.Rammohan
trailed despite the over­
Goud
whelming Telangana senti­
ment in the State.
Even during the 2018
elections, when a majority
of the ‘settlers’ shifted
their loyalties to the ruling
Bharat Rashtra Samithi
(BRS), L.B. Nagar was one
constituency where D.
Sudheer Reddy won from
the Congress. He defected
to BRS later, and is now
one of the three key
contenders.
L.B. Nagar electorate
constitutes a large number
of colonies in L.B.Nagar,
Hatinapuram, Mansura­
bad, Karmanghat, Cham­
papet, Badangpet, Nagole
and Hayatnagar areas, be­
sides part Dilsukhnagar
and part Saroornagar.
Most of these colonies are
settled by middle and up­
per middle class voters, be­
sides the urban poor in­
habiting about 50 slums.
Though the colonies
had been settled about 40
years ago mostly by go­
vernment employees and
pensioners, the burgeon­
ing real estate develop­
ment is fast changing the
face of it, adding a cosmo­
politan touch to the other­
wise defined composition.
Housing, urban infras­
tructure, and civic ameni­
For political parties, LPG subsidy is the new firepower amid rising prices
N. Ravi Kumar
HYDERABAD
Frequent increase in cook­
ing gas prices, often sharp­
ly, and the Centre’s empha­
sis on targeted liquefied
petroleum gas (LPG) subsi­
dy, has turned the spot­
light on the domestic fuel
in the battle of hustings
with the ruling BRS in Te­
langana and opposition
Congress promising to cap
LPG cylinder consumer
price by adding a layer of
State government subsidy.
Though not new as
cooking gas prominently fi­
gured in the price rise de­
bate for long and there also
had been a few measures
such as Deepam scheme
for new connections and a
subsidy of ₹50 per refill in
CM
YK
TELANGANA POLLS 2023
A flexi poster tied to a pillar
beneath LB Nagar flyover, in
violation of GHMC’s ban on all
publicity material.
ties, besides party loyalty,
caste and regional affilia­
tions are some factors that
could influence the voters’
choice here.
When it comes to civic
infrastructure, road and
transport facilities to this
area have seen considera­
ble improvement, thanks
to projects such as Strateg­
ic Road Development Plan
and drinking water pipe­
lines. Flooding of roads
and streets during heavy
rains continues to plague
several areas, though the
Strategic Nala Develop­
ment Programme has re­
duced the extent of inun­
dation in quite a few
colonies.
Construction of a 1,000­
bed hospital of Telangana
Institute of Medical Scienc­
es is progressing at a fast
pace in Kothapet where
the landmark fruit market
existed earlier. The ruling
BRS is banking heavily on
the aforesaid develop­
ment, while it is yet to be
seen if it has the potential
to break the anti­incum­
bency streak.
“It is not to say that the
government has not
worked, but the question is
in whose favour. The road
infrastructure would bene­
fit only those with private
vehicles. This was the bu­
siest route for RTC buses,
but on the pretext of Metro
Rail, the number of buses
were reduced drastically,”
complained K. Sudhakar
Naidu of NGOs Colony.
Yadamma, a fruit seller
at Kothapet, however,
knows where her loyalties
lie, despite the fact that the
market has been shifted
outside the city. “I am get­
ting higher pension, so you
erstwhile united Andhra
Pradesh, to reduce the bur­
den of households, the cir­
cumstances this time and
financial implications like­
ly are different. The BJP, as­
piring for a third consecu­
tive term in next year’s
general elections, slashed
cooking gas cylinder prices
in August by ₹200 per refill
for all domestic consumers
in the run up to polls in five
States. The reduction
brought down the 14.2­kg
cylinder refill price from
₹1,155 to ₹955 in Hydera­
bad.
Within months of what
the Prime Minister Naren­
dra Modi then described as
Raksha Bandhan gift to sis­
ters of the country, the go­
vernment in October fol­
lowed it up with a ₹100
know where my vote
goes,” she says.
D. Sudheer Reddy from
BRS is an entrenched can­
didate here, thanks to his
rich political experience
and presence here since
L.B. Nagar emerged as a
constituency in 2009 elec­
tions. He is widely known
as an approachable leader
who is very conscious of
the issues faced by the
electorate. Besides, his na­
tivity of Nalgonda could
work in his favour as a
large number of residents
here hail from the district.
“He is fine, but his fol­
lowers are indulging in en­
croachments and bullying.
That will work against
him,” says Krishna Reddy,
a retired employee of
TSRTC, and resident of
Chintalkunta.
His opponent Madhusu­
dan Goud Yashki (men­
tioned as Madhusudan in
his nomination) from Con­
gress is a prominent leader
with decades of expe­
rience with a close rapport
with the party’s high com­
mand. Though he claims
nativity of Hayatnagar, he
had contested four times
from Nizamabad consti­
tuency, and won twice. He
lost the previous two elec­
tions to BRS leader K. Ka­
vitha.
Highly educated and a
strong supporter of sepa­
rate statehood, Mr.Goud is
also known for his civil and
soft demeanour. More than
anything else, he has ad­
vantage in terms of caste
affiliation, as the localities
of Nagole and B.N.Reddy
Nagar have a large pre­
sence of his own
community.
“Not one community,
there is a general feeling of
betrayal among all back­
ward castes, as there was
hardly any scheme which
benefited them. Since BJP
is not very strong; their
votes could go en masse to
Congress,” says N. Veeresh,
a driver. On the flip side,
Mr.Goud is not considered
local, or as approachable
as Mr.Sudheer Reddy.
BJP’s Sama Ranga Red­
dy, the third major conten­
der, has the potential to
emerge as the dark horse.
With years of experience,
claims of local advantage,
and backing by the upper
middle class voters, he also
derives strength from a
large number of BJP corpo­
rators elected from this
constituency, and their
cadre. For six months
prior to the elections, his
office had been steadily
working to enrol as many
urban voters as possible in­
to the electoral rolls.
Whether all these voters
arrive at the polling sta­
tions on the D­day could
make or break his chances.
increase in subsidy payout
per refill to beneficiaries
under its PMUY or Ujjwala
scheme. Prior to this, such
Mystery over BJP manifesto
Manifesto committee has not met after its chairman Vivek Venkatswamy quit and joined Congress, say party sources
V.Geetanath
HYDERABAD
he BJP’s election
T manifesto is ex­
pected to be re­
leased during the visit of
Union Home Minister Amit
Shah to Hyderabad to­
wards the weekend, but
members of the manifesto
committee themselves are
clueless about it.
In the past few days, it
was said that the ‘people’s
manifesto’ is ready after
having held discussions
with various stakeholders.
However, party sources in­
formed that the committee
has not met after its chair­
man and former MP Vivek
Venkatswamy quit the
party.
“The manifesto commit­
tee met only once where
the details of the last elec­
tion manifesto was shared
among the members. But,
after that there has been
no full­fledged meeting to
discuss the contents. There
has been no meeting after
Mr.Venkatswamy resigned
and joined the Congress,” a
source claimed.
But, senior leaders af­
firm that the draft has been
finalised, sent to the cen­
tral leadership for clea­
rance and that the manifes­
tos for the five Assemblies
Job woes on wheels
Telangana Congress launching its 10­day Nirudyoga Chaitanya bus
yatra to highlight the issue of unemployment during the BRS
regime, at Gun Park in Hyderabad on Wednesday. RAMAKRISHNA G.
users were getting ₹200
subsidy.
BRS, in its manifesto, for
State elections due on No­
Party senior leaders say that the draft has been finalised and sent to the central leadership for clearance.
going to polls are being re­
leased one by one. If the
manifesto preparation has
been shrouded in secrecy,
the old­timers are bristling
over being ignored during
ticket distribution with the
newest entrants making
the cut.
The classic case of form­
er Governor K. Vidyasagar
Rao’s son, Vikas Rao, ma­
naging to literally ‘snatch’
the Vemulawada ticket
from party’s election cam­
paign committee chairman
Eatala Rajender’s close fol­
lower Tula Uma at the very
last minute after her name
figured in the official list re­
vember 30, has promised
subsidised LPG cylinder at
₹400 for all eligible wo­
men. Congress party says it
leased (she has now joined
BRS), is symptomatic of
the confusion among the
rank and file.
Central leaders had in­
tervened and gave an ear­
ful so that the veteran par­
ty stalwart is not
embarrassed even if Mr.Ra­
jender was unhappy at the
turn of events. This was
one instance where the
old­timers’ clout prevailed;
otherwise, it has been a
crushing disappointment
especially within the city
and Rangareddy district
considered the party’s
bastion.
To give a few examples –
Akbaruddin Owaisi richest
among AIMIM candidates
The Hindu Bureau
HYDERABAD
Akbaruddin Owaisi
The All India Majlis­e­Itte­
hadul Muslimeen leader
and Chandrayangutta le­
gislator has movable assets
worth approximately ₹7.93
crore, and those of his
spouse were pegged at
₹3.53 crore in the 2018 affi­
davit. Cut to 2023, the
gross total of his movable
assets has gone up. While
his immovable assets stood
at ₹3.91 crore, that of his
spouse stood at ₹4.95
crore. He owns four resi­
dential properties — two in
Hyderabad, another two in
Bengaluru. The total value
of his immovable assets, as
per the latest affidavit, is
around ₹4.50 crore, and
those of his spouse is ₹5.40
crore. Their liabilities
stand at ₹2.89 crore, and
₹5.96 crore respectively.
Mr.Owaisi has four FIRs
against him in different
police stations.
Kausar Mohiuddin
The AIMIM candidate from
Karwan and his spouse
have seen a rise in movable
and immovable assets,
show affidavits filed before
will provide LPG cylinder
at ₹500, similar to what it
did earlier this year in Ra­
jasthan. BJP is yet to re­
lease its manifesto for
Telangana.
While a few other State
governments either extend
State­specific subsidy or
are examining the con­
cept, a list that includes
Madhya Pradesh, Pudu­
cherry and Tamil Nadu,
the moot point are the im­
plementation modalities of
such programmes, finan­
cial implications and how
additional resources re­
quired are to be garnered.
At another level, the go­
vernments also need to
factor in the backlash on
account of a left­out feeling
among LPG households
not receiving any subsidy
former GHMC floor leader
B. Shaymsundar Goud has
been an aspirant for Sa­
nathnagar constituency
but it was given to former
Minister Marri Shashidhar
Reddy who moved from
the Congress. Deshpande
Rajeshwar Rao was denied
the ‘B’ form and it was gi­
ven to P. Raju at the last mi­
nute in Sangareddy. In Me­
dak, P.Vijaykumar was
given ticket over claims by
Janardhan Reddy.
Mr.Kishan Reddy’s
prime follower B. Venkat
Reddy quit after realising
he wouldn’t get Amberpet
constituency. The ticket
the returning officer. While
Mr.Mohiuddin’s movable
assets in 2018 stood at
₹22.90 lakh, his spouse’s
amounted to a little over
₹11 lakh. In 2023, these in­
creased to over ₹36.57 lakh
and ₹43 lakh, respectively.
Meanwhile, the immovable
assets, according to the af­
fidavit filed ahead of the
2018 elections, amounted
to ₹5.60 lakh, and his
spouse’s stood at around
₹6.80 lakh. In 2023, while
Mr Mohiuddin’s approxi­
mate current market price
of immovable assets stood
at ₹33 lakh, and those of
his spouse increased to
₹1.24 crore. They derive
their income from “salary”
and “agriculture”. He has a
case against him connect­
ed to wrongful restraint,
and disobedience to order.
Ahmed bin Abdullah
Balala
The Malakpet candidate
had movable assets
amounting to over ₹39 lakh
and immovable assets with
a total value of ₹3.51 crore
in 2014. In an affidavit filed
ahead of the 2023 elec­
tions, the gross total value
of his movable assets is a
little over ₹2 crore and im­
but deserving.
Observers say schemes
reducing the strain on hou­
sehold budgets such as
cooking gas subsidy are a
big hit among women vo­
ters. The manifesto pro­
mises are likely to provide
a glimmer of hope to 26.03
lakh beneficiaries of the
State­sponsored Deepam
scheme as despite being
economically weak they
are not getting the PMUY
subsidy.
In Telangana, active
domestic LPG customer
base is a little over 1.20
crore of which connec­
tions issued under PMUY is
over 11.52 lakh. As per offi­
cial data, the customer
base across India is 31.40
crore. In addition to Dee­
pam scheme beneficiaries,
Hyderabad
was given to former minis­
ter C.Krishna Yadav, a bug­
bear for the saffron party
since student days as if to
add insult to injury.
Same goes with tickets
issued for Jubilee Hills
(L.Deepak Reddy), Secun­
derabad (Sarangapani),
Medak (Vijaykumar), Che­
vella (K.S. Ratnam) and
Ibrahimpatnam (Daya­
nand Goud). In fact, none
of the nine seniors of erst­
while Rangareddy district
were accommodated des­
pite meeting the bigwigs
and no effort was made to
‘counsel’ them.
Old­timers and cadre al­
so seem determined not to
do a repeat of the Munu­
gode bypoll ‘mistake’.
“The cadre gave it their all
for Komatireddy Rajagopal
Reddy and were gutted to
see him jump ship and
contest from Congress this
time. Ticket aspirants
among veterans are disap­
pointed but will be loyal to
the party. It was easier to
blame major alliance
partner like Telugu Desam
Party earlier not now. But,
make no mistake, there is
an unease among the
cadre about plunging hea­
dlong wholeheartedly into
the campaign for the con­
testing newcomers,” said a
senior leader.
movable assets run into
about ₹5.16 crore. His lia­
bilities are pegged at ₹1.06
crore.
Majid Hussain
Among the first­time As­
sembly nominees, the
former mayor’s movable
assets are to the tune of
₹92.10 lakh, while his
spouse has about ₹51.61
lakh in her name. His im­
movable assets are valued
at an approximate ₹1.04
crore and his spouse’s are
worth about ₹3.50 lakh.
His liabilities stand at ap­
proximately ₹16.88 lakh.
Mr.Hussain has a case
against him pertaining to
assault/criminal force to
deter a public servant from
discharging duties, and cri­
minal intimidation. He has
one licensed firearm.
Mohammed Mubeen
After sitting Bahadurpura
MLA Mohammed Moazam
Khan was dropped, AIMIM
fielded Mr.Mubeen, who
served as corporator and is
a first­time MLA candidate.
Mr.Mubeen has ₹17.25 lakh
worth of movable assets,
while his spouse has ₹6.20
lakh. His immovable assets
are worth ₹1.27 crore.
there are 7.93 lakh connec­
tions issued under CSR
funds of oil companies.
Around 50 lakh domestic
refills are delivered every
month in Telangana by dis­
tributors of national oil
companies.
Besides the households,
LPG subsidy is bound to
bring cheer to the distribu­
tors. “We should be happy
because our customers will
get refills at a lower cost.
The [LPG] consumption le­
vel will [consequently] go
up and definitely discour­
age [users from switching]
to piped gas as no subsidy
will be possible in that un­
less government brings in
some scheme,” Telangana
LPG Distributors Associa­
tion president K.Jagan Mo­
han Reddy said.
M HY-HYE