Maheshwaram Constituency: Voters keep candidates guessing, Nari Shakti Vs Cong and BJP

CANDIDATES THIS YEAR

BRS: Sabitha Indra Reddy

BJP: Andela Sriramulu Yadav

Congress: Kichannagari Laxma Reddy.

Sitting MLA

• Sabitha Indra Reddy, won in 2018 from Congress
• Got 53.3 % of the votes polled

KEY ISSUES

• Encroachment over government lands
• Increase in crime rate
• Lack of drinking water in several areas

Rangareddy: Although no potential candidate appeared fielded by any opposition party to take on BRS in Maheshwaram, the vacuum created out of the presence of a strong anti-incumbency against the ruling government in the State may cast an impact on the outcome of the elections this time in the constituency.

Almost double the size of the Rajendra Nagar constituency on the west and eight times bigger than Hyderabad, the Maheshwaram constituency comes under the Rangareddy district and consists of four mandals that include Maheshwaram, Balapur, Kandukur, and Saroornagar. It is further divided into four Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) such as Badangpet, Meerpet, Tukkuguda, and Jalpally.

It is sharing the boundaries with Chandrayangutta, Rajendranagar, Ibrahimpatnam, Shadnagar, Kalwakurthy, and LB Nagar constituencies. Although the BC and minority votes dominate the constituency, mandal like Balapur that covers areas like Jalpally, Pahadi Shareef, Shaheen Nagar, and Errakunta with sizable minority votes make a niche over others. While there is a presence of a strong anti-incumbency in the constituency, the vacuum continues to exist as no candidate has the potential to face a heavy-weight candidate like Sabitha Indra Reddy in Maheshwaram as both the Congress and the BJP camps are still divided and suffering from groupism.

However, most of the people are found neither rejecting nor endorsing any party this time. However, they say that only the political leaders and their cadre will benefit from the government schemes while a large number of genuine families remain deprived. Voters also found upset over the way the leadership has ignored their issues during the last five years in the constituency.

In Balapur, people say except for one or two streets in every ward where roads and water supply lines were provided, nothing much has changed during the last five years. “We heard much about encroachments over government lands and water bodies instead of development. Also, there is a significant surge in serious crimes like murders and assaults under Pahadi Shareef and Balapur limits that instill a climate of fear among the local people,” said a voter on the condition of anonymity.

To prove their point some even say that people built basic amenities like sewerage on their own in several streets especially in Jalpally municipality as they were upset over the way the concerned municipal officials failed to respond to their grievances despite repeated representations.

Some of them come with logic in their narration. “Although the Jalpally municipality in Balapur is an impoverished area, whatever the least development happens, comes only this time,” said Mohd Sarvar, a resident of the Errakunta area.

Interestingly, this election will see another face-off between Sabita and KLR. It is noteworthy to mention that they were face-to-face earlier too in the year 2000.

Sabitha was seeking a mandate for the first time from Chevella after the death of her husband and the winds of sympathy helped her to defeat KLR with a whopping 29,909 votes. Now, 23 years later they both come face-to-face again in the battle field but this time in Maheshwaram.