BJP’s G Kishan Reddy wins Secunderabad with 4.73 lakh votes

Union Minister Gangapuram Kishan Reddy wins the Secunderabad seat with a margin of 49,944 votes against Congress’ Danam Nagender.

A triangular contest for Secunderabad Lok Sabha constituency in Telangana was on the cards where Union Minister for tourism, culture and development of the north eastern region, Reddy is seeking re-election. 

Two sitting MLAs representing Assembly segments under the same Lok Sabha constituency were also set to enter the fray.

Interestingly both the MLAs were elected in recent elections on Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) tickets. Nagender, who was re-elected from Khairatabad constituency, joined Congress party a few days ago and the party had swiftly named him as the candidate for May 13 election.

BRS, which won six of the seven Assembly segments in the recent polls, is making a determined bid to register its maiden victory in this Lok Sabha constituency, which so far has elected either Congress or BJP.

The BRS fielded T Padmarao Goud, who was elected from the Secunderabad Assembly segment recently for a fourth term and considered a strong leader.

Padmarao Goud has been associated with TRS (now BRS) since Telangana movement days. He also served as the Deputy Speaker of Telangana Legislative Assembly between 2014 and 2018.

He was first elected to the Assembly of united Andhra Pradesh on TRS ticket from Secunderabad in 2004.

In terms of Assembly segments won and number of votes secured, BRS appeared strong on paper but defections of some key leaders to the ruling Congress has apparently hit the party’s morale.

The switching of loyalties by Nagender, a former minister, came as a shot in the arm for the grand old party.

Upbeat after luring several key BRS leaders, including Greater Hyderabad Mayor Vijayalaxmi Gadwal to its camp, Congress looked to wrest the seat from BJP after losing two consecutive elections

After drawing a blank in Greater Hyderabad region in Nov 30, 2023 polls, the Congress was looking for strong candidates to bolster its prospects. Interestingly, in Secunderabad, Chevella and Malkajgiri, which cover Assembly segments in and around Hyderabad, the Congress had fielded all defectors from BRS.

Kishan Reddy, who is also the state president of the BJP, was elected MP from Secunderabad in 2019, a few months after losing the election from Amberpet Assembly segment under the same parliamentary constituency

In 2019, G. Kishan Reddy had defeated his nearest rival T. Sai Kiran Yadav by a majority of 62,114 votes. Kishan Reddy had polled 3,84,780 votes while Sai Kiran Yadav, son of former minister and BRS leader Srinivas Yadav, secured 3,22,666 votes.

Anjan Kumar Yadav, a two-time MP from Secunderabad, finished a distant third with 1,73,229 votes.

In the Nov 30, 2023 Assembly elections, BRS bagged six out of seven Assembly segments under the Secunderabad Lok Sabha constituency. The AIMIM retained the Nampally segment.

Like in the 2019 elections, Kishan Reddy, a three-time MLA from Amberpet, banked on the Modi factor.

Both BRS and Congress were looking to get support of Muslims and Christians, who are in sizable numbers in this constituency.

Secunderabad was a Congress stronghold till 1991 when BJP’s Bandaru Dattatreya wrested the seat for the first time. He was elected from this constituency again in 1998, 1999 and 2014.

In 2014, when BJP had contested the elections in alliance with the TDP, Dattatreya had defeated his nearest rival Anjan Kumar Yadav of Congress with a massive majority of over 2.54 lakh votes.

All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) candidate N. Mohan Rao was at third spot polling 1.45 lakh votes. TRS had finished fourth with 1.43 lakh votes.

In 2019, AIMIM had backed TRS in 16 Lok Sabha constituencies while the two parties had a friendly contest in Hyderabad, a stronghold of AIMIM.

It will be interesting to see which party AIMIM will support this time as the party appears to have softened its stand towards Congress after it came to power.

Secunderabad is one of the seats which BRS never won since the party was floated by K. Chandrasekhar Rao in 2001. In 2009, it finished in sixth position.

The BRS leader reminded the city voters about the 360-degree development of Hyderabad during their 10 year-rule.

KTR also reminded the people of Secunderabad that instead of voting for leaders who make regular visits to high commands in Delhi, they should vote for Padmarao Goud, who is always available in the constituency.

Younger than Hyderabad by 215 years, Secunderabad is known for its distinctive and more modern lifestyle, cosmopolitan culture and architecture. It houses dozens of defence establishments with the Secunderabad Cantonment Board (SCB) looking after the vast military interests.

In 1806, Nizam III Mir Sikandar Jah, the ruler of then Hyderabad State had allocated Secunderabad, the area to the north of the Hussain Sagar Lake, for the cantonment of the British Army. The area was named after Sikandar Jah and it remained under the direct rule of the British till 1948.

(With inputs from syndicated feed)