The Hindu : Keen contest on the cards for Karwan Assembly seat

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Aug 26, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Andhra Pradesh-Hyderabad

Keen contest on the cards for Karwan Assembly seat

By J.S.Ifthekhar

HYDERABAD Aug. 25. A `no-holds-barred' battle appears to be on the cards in the Karwan Assembly segment where elections are due next month. Arch rivals - the BJP and the Majlis - are gearing up to turn tables on each other leaving nothing to chance.

This urban constituency has seen the BJP and Majlis fortunes fluctuate over the years. Both the parties have strong bases here with the people rooting for one or the other. The constituency has its share of local issues but they hardly have a bearing on the election. It is communal agenda that is the decisive factor. The BJP's Baddam Balreddy has held this seat for three consecutive terms from 1985 to 1994. But his string of successes was broken by Syed Sajjad of Majlis who annexed Karwan in 1999. Will the Majlis succeed in retaining its seat?

The Majlis first captured Karwan in 1983 with Baqar Agha emerging victorious after defeating Shivlal of Congress. In 1985, Mr. Balreddy annexed this seat and retained it for three terms. During this period, Baqar Agha, Virasat Rasool Khan and Sajjad of Majlis contested unsuccessfully against Mr. Balreddy. The Majlis could recapture this seat in 1999 when Mr. Balreddy shifted base and contested the Hyderabad Parliamentary seat and lost.

Statistics show that Mr. Balreddy had won this seat in 1985 by 13,000 votes. But in the subsequent elections, this margin was reduced to just 3,000. However, in 1999, Sajjad won this seat with a huge margin of 13,542 votes by polling 78,325 votes against 64,783 by G. Kishan Reddy of BJP.

Even when the BJP held sway over Karwan, the Majlis was fast recovering the lost ground. This is clear from the inroads made by the Majlis MP, Sultan Salahuddin Owaisi, in the 1996 Parliamentary election. He secured 7,000 votes more than the BJP's Venkaiah Naidu in the Karwan segment.

While the BJP has a committed cadre working in Karwan, the Majlis is relying on the good work of its corporators. This Assembly segment comprising ward 9, 12 and 13 has a total of 10 corporators. Of them eight belong to the Majlis and two to BJP. The municipal divisions of Langar House, Golconda East, Golconda West, Karwan, Sitarambagh, Asifnagar, Muradnagar and Aghapura are represented by Majlis corporators while Jiaguda and Mehdipatnam divisions are represented by the BJP.

Will the corporators be able to swing votes in favour of their respective parties? The question is debatable, but the Majlis corporators feel the developmental works done by them will certainly contribute to the winning prospects of their party candidate.

While the BJP is certain to field its veteran leader, Mr. Balreddy, the Majlis is yet to choose its nominee. However, sources say the party is considering the candidature of former MLA, Virasat Rasool Khan, executive member, Majeed Khan and Afsar Khan. As in the past the TDP is expected to extend support to its ally, BJP, while the Congress may field a candidate.

Meanwhile, the MBT has decided to contest the Karwan poll. At a meeting held on Sunday, the party felt taking part in the next month's election was essential to protect the interest of the community and to take forward the mission of the party founder, Mohd. Amanullah Khan.

TD-BJP nominee? The alliance of the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Telugu Desam Party appears to have finalised the candidature of Baddam Bal Reddy for the byelections to the Karwan Assembly segment. An announcement declaring his candidature is likely to be made in a day or two.

``Yes. There were some bickerings last time which led to the alliance's defeat at the hands of Majlis Ittehadul-e-Muslimeen. But this time, we have taken it up as a challenge to wrest the seat back from them,'' the city BJP president, Venkata Ramani, said at a press conference here on Monday.

The alliance even constituted a high-level coordination committee comprising Ministers K. Vijayarama Rao and T. Srinivas Yadav, MLAs K. Lakshman, Premsingh Rathod, Mayor T. Krishna Reddy, Deputy Mayor Subhashchanderji besides senior city leaders of the BJP and TDP to chalk out a winning election strategy.

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