TJUDA chief enters poll fray from Musheerabad

​Hyderabad: The Musheerabad Assembly is set for a triangular fight between sitting MLA Dr K Laxman (BJP), Mutta Gopal (TRS), Dr Anil Kumar Yadav (Congress). However, an independent is trying his best to reach out to as many voters as possible and gain their confidence to change the system.

Meet the 27-year-old Dr PS Vijayender, who stays in Gandhinagar and is from non-political background. He is studying final year PG (medicine) at Osmania Medical College, Koti. Further, he is the chairman of Telangana Junior Doctors Association (T JUDA) and has been at the forefront and very vocal in highlighting medicos issues like stipend hike, filling of doctors vacancies in State hospitals, new building for the dilapidated Osmania General Hospital etc.

Vijayender has decided to aim higher and try if he could get a chance to express his views and be part of policy making process in Telangana Assembly itself. Putting his thoughts into action, Vijayender filed nomination as an independent candidate from Musheerabad segment. “Everybody is saying politics should have young blood.

But strangely, most of the parties are not giving tickets to younger lot from non-political background. Only sons and daughters of present netas are being thrust onto people to accept and vote for them,” he said.
With a small group of friends and well-wishers, he chose to go to voters under the name "common man army" with diamond as the election symbol. Number of voters in Musheerabad is roughly 2.7 lakh and in last election, the voting percentage recorded was 54 per cent. Unlike traditional parties that have money and cadre at their disposal, Vijayender is short of financial resources and hence, he and his team took up unique strategies to reach out to Musheerabad voters.

Vijayender and his friends are visiting weekly vegetable markets that are held in different localities on a particular day of the week and distributing pamphlets that explain about his decision to foray into politics, his plans as a young politician if given a chance, his vision to reform the system etc.

He and his team are focusing on crowd gathering places like temples and other places of worship, tea and snack selling stalls in the evening to spread their message and seek support. Also, pamphlets are being distributed through daily newspapers in many localities. Apart from this, door-to-door visits are also being conducted in some of the localities and colonies with apartments.

Meanwhile, Vijayender is getting good support from his medical fraternity with some of the local doctors and medical staff informing about his candidature to patients. He has managed expenses thus far by pumping money saved by him from monthly stipend, support of parents and his friends and well-wishers. As situation is getting tighter by the day, he made an appeal seeking donations whatever little it might be from near and dear.