Matriculates fight for IT hub

Hyderabad: It is an irony that candidates with SSC or even lower educational background are not only contesting for divisions that cover IT sectors and posh localities of the city, but are using IT-enabled techniques while campaigning.

Candidate whose educational qualification is only SSC are contesting for Kondapur division, which is considered the heart of the IT sector. Ruling party candidate Hameed Patel had completed his SSC in the 1970s, TD candidate Neelam Ravinder Mudiraj obtained his SSC in 1993 and Utla Krishna, the Congress candidate, completed his matriculation in 1960s.

Except for TRS candidate Jagadishwar Goud, a Law graduate, the other contenders for the Madhapur division, where all the first generation IT companies were established, are G. Narsimha Yadav from Congress who hasn’t cleared his SSC and E. Srinivas Yadav (TD), who has.

TD candidate Shahnaz Begum, who has cleared her SSC, will contest for the Hafeezpet division while candidates for Gachibowli division – K. Saibaba (TRS) and Ramarao (BJP) too have cleared their Class X. A few of the candidates from Serilingampally, Miyapur, Chandanagar, Vivekanandanagar, Allwyn Colony and Hyder Nagar have cleared their matriculation, while others haven’t managed to do so.  These candidates are trying to reach IT professionals by utilising IT-enabled services.

All candidates have been sending bulk SMSes to selected voters under their respective divisions. Similarly, they have Facebook pages and are active on Twitter.

TRS hacks into ‘TD bastion’:

There is a vertical split among IT employees in Cyberabad over which party to vote for in the GHMC elections. Cyberabad is no longer a TD– BJP bastion as formation of Telangana state and several IT associations have changed the equations. Operation Aakarsh of the TRS had seen several TD MLAs from constituencies in Cyberabad joining the TRS, thus shifting the political equations.

While software professionals who support the TD continue to showcase the Cyber Towers and emphasise that Information Technology saw a massive push by TD chief N. Chandrababu Naidu, those who support the TRS mention the TRS government’s prestigious startup project, the T-Hub.

The TD supporters have already launched an online campaign in support of the party’s candidates in the IT sector which covers GHMC divisions of Kondapur, Serilingampally, Miyapur, Madhapur, Gachibowli, Hafeezpet, Chandanagar, Vivekanandanagar, Hydernagar and Allwyn Colony.

The TRS supporters make it a point to mention that IT exports have reached the '35,000 crore mark in the last 1.5 years with the initiatives taken by the TS government. They also emphasise IT minister KTR’s commitment in developing IT sector in and around the Hyderabad city. TRS candidate from Kondapur division Hameed Patel told DC that voters from IT sector were looking towards the TRS because of the initiatives taken by the government.

“Upcoming IT projects will be established in this division. IT employees and software professions are adopting the party as their own now and they have a strong hope on the government that will support IT sector. The TS government is also targetting Rs 1 lakh crore exports mark by next year up from the Rs 35,000 crore in the current financial year. Simultaneous development is being taken up by the government at Adibatla, Uppal and Patancheru areas apart from Gachibowli and Kondapur. These projects are attracting the IT professionals and now they want to vote for the TRS for better infrastructure at the division-level,” he said.

TD candidate from Kondapur Neelam Ravinder Mudiraj told this newspaper that their traditional IT professionals’ vote bank was stable and there was no doubt about the victory of the party. “Naidu introduced IT here. After establishing Hitech City, Hyderabad came into the limelight. Our stronghold is not only Kondapur division, but also Madhapur, Gachibowli, Miyapur, Allwyn colony, Miyapur and Serilingampally,” Mr Mudiraj said.

Techies do their bit for higher polling:

IT professionals are doing their bit to increase the polling percentage in the GHMC elections, with several IT associations launching campaigns to create awareness among voters in the IT corridor. Telangana Information Technology Association (TITA) has already launched “Awaz Do Hyderabad – Awaz Do Techies” aimed at increasing polling percentage.

TITA founder-president Sundeep Kumar Makthala told DC that the association has introduced an IVR system (Mobile No. 8471055557) to prepare a people’s manifesto. “Through this IVR system, citizens can express their views. Based on the audio recordings, we convert it into text and will prepare a people’s manifesto. We will send the manifesto to all political parties and voters can choose those who promise to resolve their problems,” he said.

Mr Makthala said that with coordination of 'Pramanya Strategy', TITA was working on motivating IT professionals to utilise their votes. “The Pramanya Strategy has implemented the same IVR system during the US Presidential election,” he said. He said TITA will be neutral in the elections, but would favour a political party if the general body meeting backs it.

TITA general secretary Kiran Mittakola told this newspaper that they are motivating IT professionals to participate in GHMC elections. “Most of the localities where IT professionals stay, did not registered good polling percentage in the previous elections. Our aim is to increase the polling percentage as much as possible,” he said. Apart from TITA, other IT associations including TSIT have also been taking the similar steps to increase polling percentage. However, these organisations are working either for the TRS or the TD.