Elections 2014: War of the titans in Malkajgiri, Hyderabad

Hyderabad: Malkajgiri in Hyderabad is witnessing a unique contest this time as a Union Minister a bureaucrat-turned-politician, a retired DGP, an educationist and a sitting MLA are crossing the swords in the electoral battle for this Lok Sabha constituency.

Malkajgiri, one of the largest constituencies in the country with about 30 lakh voters, is also unique because people from Seemandhra are considered crucial for victory in this constituency, though it is situated geographically in Hyderabad and its fringes.

Malkajgiri is dubbed by some as an Andhra enclave in Telangana in view of the substantial population of people from Seemandhra.

Union Minister of State for Transport Sarve Satyanarayana, who had won with a majority of about one lakh votes in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, is now facing stiff competition from bureaucrat-turned-politician and Lok Satta Party Chief Jayaprakash Narayan, Malla Reddy from the TDP-BJP combine, former DGP V Dinesh Reddy (YSR Congress), sitting MLA Mynampalli Hanumantha Rao (TRS) and K Nageswar (independent),

MLC and also an academician.

Interestingly, the Aam Admi Party has fielded Sudhakiran, a grandson of former Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao. The Jai Samaikyandhra Party (JSP) of former Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy is also in the fray.

The main contest appears to be among Satyanarayana (Congress), Jayaprakash Narayan (Lok Satta), Malla Reddy (TDP-BJP), Dinesh Reddy (YSRCP) and Hanumantha Rao (TRS) though others look no less strong.

As a substantial number of voters in the constituency belong to the educated and urban middle classes, Jayaprakash Narayan, who launched the Lok Satta few years ago to fight for clean and corruption-free politics, feels that he would be their preferred choice for voting.

Narayan, who is the sitting MLA from Kukatpally under Malkajgiri parliamentary constituency, highlights his achievements as a legislator during the last five years and his plans to develop Hyderabad.

"As legislator representing Kukatpally, Narayan has been responsible for implementation of development works worth a record Rs 1550 crore in the last five years. Narayan has chosen to contest from Malkajgiri to spread the democratic revolution he initiated in Kukatpally by earning people's mandate without distribution of money or liquor," Lok Satta leader K Srinivasa Rao said.

"AAP achieved such a change in Delhi where the per capita income is high. Since the per capita income in Malkajgiri Lok Sabha constituency is high and since Kukatpally forms part of it, Narayan chose to contest from it," he said.

"Besides strengthening new politics Narayan also plans to strive for improving infrastructure in Hyderabad at a cost of Rs 7,000 crore and ensure that the Centre fulfils all the promises it made on the eve of the State's bifurcation," Rao said.

The Lok Satta Party founder also counts on the support of top Telugu hero Pavan Kalyan, who recently launched Jana Sena and pledged support to BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, who is expected to campaign for him.

TDP candidate Ch Malla Reddy, an educationist, asserts that the development works carried out by TDP Chief N Chandrababu Naidu in Hyderabad during his tenure as Chief

Minister and the upsurge of public support for BJP and its PM candidate would help him win. He has plans to develop Malkajgiri.

Satyanarayana is confident about his victory as he takes all sections along, including people from Seemandhra, and works for the development of the constituency.

YSR Congress president Y S Jaganmohan Reddy's sister Sharmila campaigned for Dinesh Reddy in the constituency, while TRS president K Chandrasekhar Rao canvassed for his party candidate Hanumantha Rao.

Noting that his party is keen on developing Hyderabad as a mega city, the TRS president has said the Information Technology Investment Region (ITIR) sanctioned for Hyderabad would be a major employment generator in the city.

The assembly segments under Malkajgiri are Medchal, Malkajgiri, Kutbullapur, Kukatpally, Uppal, L B Nagar and Secunderabad Cantonment.

Simultaneous polls to Lok Sabha and undivided Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly would be held in Telangana region on April 30 followed by Seemandhra on May seven.