Triangular poll contest in AP

By M H Ahssan

For the first time in 25 years, Andhra Pradesh is going to witness a close triangular contest in Lok Sabha and Assembly elections, scheduled to be held in two phases on April 16 and 23.

The formation of Praja Rajyam Party (PRP) by popular filmstar Chiranjeevi has changed the political scenario in the state where the Congress and the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) have been the main contenders for power for the past two-and-a-half decades.

Chiranjeevi is currently holding roadshows across the state and, if public response is any indication, he is likely to make heavy inroads into the vote bank of the two leading parties.

There is also a major shift in the electoral alliances with the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), Communist Party of India (CPI) and Communist Party of India -Marxist (CPM) now joining the TDP to form ‘Maha Kootami’ (Grand Alliance) to take on the Congress and the PRP, which are set to fight it out alone. In the 2004 elections, the TRS and the two Left parties had an alliance with the Congress.

Despite frantic efforts, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) could not forge an alliance with any party and it is also entering the electoral fray without any partners. However, for the first time, the saffron party has decided to contest for all the Assembly and Lok Sabha seats in the state.

Lok Satta Party, founded by former IAS officer Jayaprakash Narayan, is also entering the electoral fray in the state for the first time.

The TRS, which is fighting for separate statehood for Telangana, has distanced itself from the Congress when the latter dodged the Telangana issue for the past five years.

Nevertheless, like in the last elections, the demand for a separate Telangana state has emerged as a key issue with a potential to influence the outcome of the elections to be held next month.

The Telangana region spread over 10 of the 23 districts in the state accounts for 119 out of 294 Assembly seats and 17 out of the 42 Lok Sabha constituencies. It will go to polls in the first phase along with north coastal Andhra region, which has 37 Assembly and five Lok Sabha segments.

The second phase of elections would be held in Rayalaseema and south coastal Andhra, which together have 140 Assembly and 20 Lok Sabha constituencies.

The grand alliance headed by the TDP has an edge in the Telangana region due to the presence of TRS. This despite the fact that there had been a substantial erosion in the public support to the TRS over the past five years. The party received a major setback in the byelections held in Telangana last year following en masse resignation of TRS legislators.

Chiranjeevi, who hails from north coastal Andhra, is expected to do well in that belt. PRP’s position in the Telangana has also improved slightly with the merger of Nava Telangana Party, formed by former TDP minister T Devender Goud, with the party just a few days before the announcement of the election schedule

The faction-ridden Rayalaseema region, comprising four districts, has been a traditional stronghold of the Congress. Incidentally, all the three potential candidates for the chief ministership of the state, YS Rajasekhara Reddy of the Congress, N Chandrababu Naidu of the TDP and Chiranjeevi are going to contest from this region.

With keen contest on the cards both for Lok Sabha and Assembly , the main parties in the fray announced a slew of sops to woo the electorate.

The TDP, waging a do-or-die battle to regain power, promised to give television sets to all the poor families free of cost. The party’s draft manifesto also envisages a ‘cash transfer scheme’ (CTS ) under which money will be transferred directly to the accounts poor families. While the poorest of the poor will be given Rs 2,000 per month, the poor families will get Rs 1,500 and the middleclass Rs 1,000. The party also promised free power to farmers and households and free rice up to 25 kg a month to the below poverty line families.

Naidu, who subscribed to the concept of “no free lunches” during the 2004 elections, has now earned the sobriquet of “all free Babu.” The former poster boy of reforms feels that his promises can be fulfilled though the CTS alone, considering that there are 20 million white ration cardholders in the state, this is estimated to cost around Rs 36,000 crore per annum, while the state’s budget for 2009-10 stood at Rs 1,05,144 crore. He, however, clarified that the CTS was only a concept he floated and was open to a debate on the proposed scheme.

Not to be left behind, the fledgling PRP promised distribution of 2.5 acres of wet or 5 acres of dry land to the poor, one million jobs in 1,000 days, free power to farmers for 10 hours a day, unemployment allowance of Rs 1,000 a month for the youth, reservations for economically backward classes, pension and insurance for farmers and physically-challenged and a monthly oldage pension of Rs 500.

The Congress is already implementing various welfare schemes including free power to farmers, Rs 2-a-kg rice scheme, housing for weaker sections, health insurance and low cost loans to poor and self-help groups.

Doles apart, corruption has become the main plank of the election campaign of the grand alliance, while the PRP is focusing on the twin aspects of change and social justice. On the other hand, Congress is banking on its development agenda.

According to political observers, the coming Assembly elections are crucial for the long-term survival of the TDP, while the Lok Sabha polls in the state are crucial for the Congress for forming the next government at the Centre. This could be one of the reasons behind Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s two-day tour of the state a few days before the announcement of the election schedule.

In the last elections, Congress had been successful in sending 29 candidates from the state to the Lok Sabha. The party intends to better this performance in the current elections but it seems to be facing an uphill task though there are no visible anti-incumbancy feelings among the electorate at present.

Five parties headed by the Congress formed an alliance in the 2004 polls, which helped the party to corner nearly 70 per cent of the 42 Lok Sabha seats in the state. Today, three of these parties shifted their alliance to TDP and only All India Majlis Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) is sailing with the Congress. The five parties together secured 52.54 per cent of the total votes polled.

The figures indicate that the TRS and the two Left parties, which are now sailing with the TDP, together accounted for 9.21 per cent. Though the voting pattern may not be the same during the current Lok Sabha elections, the loss of the three parties vote bank is likely to dent the prospects of the Congress candidates this time.

Despite an alliance with three parties, the going for TDP also may not be smooth. The four-party alliance will not have a common manifesto. Among the alliance partners, CPM says that it is still committed for an integrated state, while the other three parties are going to campaign for separate statehood for Telangana. The seat-sharing process is also not yet complete and is turning out to be an irritant for Naidu with the allies demanding more seats than what they had contested last time.

For the PRP, the Election Commission declining to allot a common symbol for its candidate has come as a major setback. The party has approached the state high court in this regard.

Whatever maybe the outcome of the polls, there seems to be bitter battle ahead among the contestants.

GREATER HYDERABAD – ELECTIONS 2009 - WHO'S WHO

GREATER HYDERABAD – ELECTIONS 2009

ELECTION PROCESS – March 23 - Notification, March 30 – Nominations, March 31 – Scrutiny, April 02 – Withdraw,
April 16 - Polling

ASSEMBLY SEATS – HYD + RR
Population: Voters: 66,85,377 Polling Stations:
HYDERABAD DISTRICT – ASSEMBLY Population: 30.04 Voters: 2927553 Polling Stations: 3229 Youth: 22.20 Minority: 41.6% (Muslims – 29.9%)

57 Musheerabad (Population: Voters: 112670 + 103852 = 216524) – Polling Stations: 209 Youth: 63% Minority: 48.5% (Muslims – 31.9%)
MLA – T Manemma
(Hyderabad (M Corp.+OG) (Part) Hyderabad (M Corp.) (Part) Ward No.1)

• INC : Jeevita Rajashekhar

• TDP

• TRS

• PRP

• BJP : K Lakshman

• CPI /CPM

• MIM

• Loksatta : Rohit Kumar

58 Malakpet (Population: Voters: 89913 + 88116 = 178029) – Polling Stations: 194 Youth: 68% Minority: 50.6% (Muslims – 39.9%)
MLA - Malreddy Rangareddy(Hyderabad (M Corp.+OG) (Part) Hyderabad (M Corp.) (Part) Ward No.16 Ward No.17 (Part) Block No. 8 and 9)

• INC : G Srinivas Yadav

• TDP

• TRS

• PRP

• BJP : Karunakar

• CPI /CPM

• MIM : Majid Khan

• Loksatta

59 Amberpet (Population: Voters: 95905 + 90549 = 186462) – Polling Stations: 176 Youth: 63% Minority: 38.2% (Muslims – 34.3%)
(Hyderabad (M Corp.+OG) (Part) Hyderabad (M Corp.) (Part) - Ward No.2 Ward No.3 (Part) Block No. 1 to 4)

• INC : Abid Rasool Khan

• TDP

• TRS

• PRP

• BJP : G Kishan Reddy

• CPI / CPM

• Loksatta : C Vinod Yadav

60 Khairatabad (Population: Voters: 109190 + 102716 = 211906) – Polling Stations: 200 Youth: 70% Minority: 33.2% (Muslims – 26.1%)
MLA - P Vishnuvardhan Reddy
(Hyderabad (M Corp.+OG) (Part) Hyderabad (M Corp.) (Part) Ward No.6 Ward No. 3 (Part) Block No. 5 and 6 Ward No.8 (Part) Block No. 2. Ward No.5 (Part) Block No. 10)

• INC : D Nagender

• TDP

• TRS

• PRP

• BJP : C Ramchandra Reddy

• CPI /CPM

• MIM

• Loksatta : Ravinder

61 Jubilee Hills (Population: Voters: 129501 + 116674 = 246175) – Polling Stations: 252 Youth: 65% Minority: 41% (Muslims – 39%)
(Hyderabad (M Corp.+OG) (Part) Hyderabad (M Corp.) (Part) Ward No.8 (Part) Block No. 1, 3 and 4)

• INC : P Vishuvardhan Reddy

• TDP

• TRS

• PRP : Humayyun

• BJP

• CPI / CPM

• MIM

• Loksatta : Pratibha Rao

62 Sanathnagar (Population: Voters: 89637 + 85909 = 175569) – Polling Stations: 178 Youth: 63% Minority: 32.2% (Muslims – 21.6%)
MLA – M Shashidhar Reddy
(Hyderabad (M Corp.+OG) (Part) Hyderabad (M Corp.) (Part) Ward No.7, 24 (excluding the area in AC – 46 Kukatpalle) and 25 to 30)

• INC : M Sashidhar Reddy

• TRS : Padma Rao

• PRP : P Vinay

• BJP : B Shyam Goud

• MIM

• Loksatta

63 Nampally (Population: Voters: 112183 109384 – 221613) – Polling Stations: 240 Youth: 70% Minority: 49.9% (Muslims – 44.4%)
(Hyderabad (M Corp.+OG) (Part) Hyderabad (M Corp.) (Part) Ward No. 10 to 12)

• INC

• TDP

• TRS

• PRP : Feroz Khan

• BJP : Ramulu

• CPI / CPM

• MIM : Moazam Khan

• Loksatta

64 Karwan (Population: Voters: 110172 + 104255 = 214543) – Polling Stations: 235 Youth: 73% Minority: 61.6% (Muslims – 46.7%)
MLA - Afsar Khan
(Hyderabad (M Corp.+OG) (Part) Hyderabad (M Corp.) (Part) Ward No.9 Ward No. 13 (Part) Block No. 3 to 6)

• INC

• TDP

• TRS : K Venkatesh

• PRP

• BJP

• CPI / CPM

• MIM : Afsar Khan

• Loksatta

65 Goshamahal (Population: Voters: 103013 + 95744 = 198797) - Polling Stations: 232 Youth: 68% Minority: 38% (Muslims – 26.5%)
(Hyderabad (M Corp.+OG) (Part) Hyderabad (M Corp.) (Part) Ward No. 4, 14 and 15 Ward No. 5 (Part) Block No. 1 to 9 Ward No. 13 (Part) Block No. 1 and 2.7)

• INC : Mukesh Goud

• TDP

• TRS

• PRP : Nirmal Yadav

• BJP : Prem Signh Rathod

• CPI / CPM

• MIM : Nandulal yadav

• Loksatta

66 Charminar (Population: Voters: 82445 + 76230 = 158712) – Polling Stations: 227 Youth: 75% Minority: 68.2% (Muslims – 46.3%)
MLA – Ahmed Pasha Quadri
(Hyderabad (M Corp.+OG) (Part) Hyderabad (M Corp.) (Part) Ward No. 20 to 23)

• INC

• TDP : Ali Bin Masqati

• PRP

• BJP

• MIM : Ahmed Balala

• MBT

• Loksatta

67 Chandrayangutta (Population: Voters: 80043 + 82928 = 163009) – Polling Stations: 198 Youth: 62% Minority: 40% (Muslims – 28%)
MLA – Akbaruddin Owaisi
(Hyderabad (M Corp.+OG) (Part) Hyderabad (M Corp.) (Part) Ward No.18 (Part) Block No. 1 to 3 and 8 to 14)

• INC

• TDP

• TRS

• PRP

• BJP

• MIM : Akbaruddin Owaisi

• MBT : Khayam Khan

• Loksatta

68 Yakutpura (Population: Voters: 107366 + 105131 = 212518) – Polling Stations: 242 Youth: 68.6% Minority: 56% (Muslims – 51%)
MLA – Mumtaz Khan
(Hyderabad (M Corp.+OG) (Part) Hyderabad (M Corp.) (Part)- Ward No.17 (Part) Block No. 1 to 7 Ward No.18 (Part) Block No. 6 and 7)

• INC

• TDP : Ibramim Masqati

• PRP : T Narsing Rao

• BJP

• MIM : Mumtaz Khan

• MBT

• Loksatta

69 Bahadurpura (Population: Voters: 90100 + 91180 = 181306) – Polling Stations: 212 Youth: 69.2% Minority: 49% (Muslims – 41.5%)
(Hyderabad (M Corp.+OG) (Part) Hyderabad (M Corp.) (Part) Ward No.18 (Part) Block No. 4 and 5 Ward No.19)

• INC

• TDP

• TRS

• PRP : Md.Yousuf

• BJP

• CPI / CPM

• MIM : Ahmed Pasha Quadri

• MBT

• Loksatta

70 Secunderabad (Population: Voters: 96422 + 95820 = 192302) – Polling Stations: 197 Youth: 70.4% Minority: 39.8% (Muslims – 27.5%)
MLA – T Srinivas Yadav
(Hyderabad (M Corp.+OG) (Part) Hyderabad (M Corp.) (Part) Ward No.33 (Part) Block No. 4 to 7 Ward No. 34 and 35 Osmania University Area)

• INC : Jayasudha

• TDP : T Srinivas Yadav

• PRP : Aga Reddy / Saranga Pani

• BJP : Venkata Ramani

• MIM

• Loksatta : A Maharani

71 Secunderabad Cantt. (SC) (Population: Voters: 92256 + 91959 = 184260) – Polling Stations: 192 Youth: 63% Minority: 28.2% (Muslims – 21.3%)
MLA - Saianna
(Hyderabad (M Corp.+OG) (Part) Hyderabad (M Corp.) (Part) Ward No. 31 and 32 Ward No.33 (Part) Block No.1 to 3 Secunderabad Cantonment Board)

• INC : M S Prabhakar

• TDP : Saianna

• TRS : G Nagesh

• PRP : N Ravikumar

• BJP

• Loksatta

• MIM


GREATER HYDERABAD – ASSEMBLY (RR + Medak)
Population: 38.30 Voters: 3757824 Polling Stations:

43 Medchal (Population: 398877 Voters:143455 + 136729 = 280222) – Polling Stations:
Youth: 66.6% Minority: 23.7% (Muslims – 19.8%)
MLA – T Devender Goud
(Medchal + Shamirpet + Ghatkesar and Keesara (Rural) Mandals)

• INC

• TDP

• TRS

• PRP

• BJP

• CPI / CPM

• Loksatta

44 Malkajgiri (Population: 450244 Voters: 171367 + 165516 – 336883) – Polling Stations: 330 Youth: 72.4% Minority: 38.2% (Muslims – 27.3%) (Malkajgiri Mandal)

• INC : A Vijay Kumar

• TRS : E Haribabu Yadav

• PRP : C Kanaka Reddy

• BJP : Ramchander Rao / Ballingam

• MIM

• Loksatta

45 Quthbullapur (Population: 458015 Voters: 143996 + 128442 = 272455) – Polling Stations: Youth: 67% Minority: 38% (Muslims – 19.6%) (Quthbullapur Mandal)

• INC : K M Pratap

• TRS : Vivekanad Goud

• PRP

• BJP : S Malla Reddy

• Loksatta : Ravinder

46 Kukatpalle (Hyderabad (M Corp.) (Part) Hyderabad (M Corp.) - Ward No.24 (Part) (Area in Balanagar Mandal) Kukatpalle (M) (Part) Kukatpalle (M) - Ward No. 5 to 16)

• INC : V Narsing Rao

• TRS : M Sudershan

• PRP : G Padma Rao

• BJP : Kanta Rao

• Loksatta : Jaya Prakash Narayan

47 Uppal (Population: 505664 Voters: 172156 + 152804 = 324992) – Polling Stations: Youth: 63% Minority: 38% (Muslims – 22.8%)
(Uppal Municipality + Kapra Municipality)

• INC : R Laxma Reddy

• TRS : G Shobhan Reddy

• PRP : P Krishnam Raju

• BJP : S V V S Prabhakar

• Loksatta : Jaswant Reddy

48 Ibrahimpatnam (Population: 241771 Voters: 98047 + 92538 = 190597) – Polling Stations: Youth: 69% Minority: 35% (Muslims – 27.1%)
(Hayathnagar + Ibrahimpatnam + Manchal and Yacharam Mandals)

• INC : Malreddy Rangareddy

• TDP

• TRS

• PRP

• BJP

• CPI / CPM

• MIM

• Loksatta

49 Lal Bahadur Nagar (Population: 556880 Voters: 191857 + 173835 = 365693) – Polling Stations: Youth: 70% Minority: 36% (Muslims – 30.1%)
(Saroornagar Mandal (Part) + Gaddiannaram (CT) + Lal Bahadur Nagar (M+OG) + (Part) Lal Bahadur Nagar (M) - Ward No. 1 to 10)

• INC : Sudheer Reddy

• TDP

• TRS

• PRP : Sama Ranga Reddy

• BJP : K Bal Reddy

• CPI / CPM

• Loksatta : E Rama Rao

50 Maheswaram (Population: 360287 Voters: 140047 + 133603 = 273658) – Polling Stations: Youth: 73% Minority: 25% (Muslims – 18.9%)
(Maheswaram and Kandukur Mandals Saroornagar Mandal (Part) Medbowli, Almasguda, Badangpet, Chintalakunta, Jalpalle, Mamidipalle, Kurmalguda and Nadargul (Rural) Mandals. Hyderabad (OG) (Part) Balapur (OG) - Ward No.36 Kothapet (OG) - Ward No.37 Venkatapur (OG) - Ward No.39 Mallapur (OG) - Ward No.40 Lal Bahadur Nagar (M+OG) (Part) Lal Bahadur Nagar (M) - Ward No.11 Nadargul (OG) (Part) - Ward No.12 Jillalguda (OG) - Ward No.15 Meerpet (CT))

• INC : Sabita Indrareddy

• TDP

• TRS

• PRP

• BJP

• CPI / CPM

• Loksatta

51 Rajendranagar (Population: 368280 Voters: 130034 + 123218 = 253364) – Polling Stations: Youth: 63% Minority: 37% (Muslims – 29.4%) (Rajendranagar and Shamshabad Mandals)

• INC : K Gyaneshwar

• TDP

• TRS

• PRP

• BJP : Prem Raj Yadav

• MIM : Rajmohan

• CPI / CPM

• Loksatta : Solkar Reddy

52 Serilingampally (Population: 468803 Voters: 194776 + 172478 = 367258) – Polling Stations: Youth: 60% Minority: 25% (Muslims – 16.4%)
(Serilingampally Mandal + Balanagar Mandal + (Part) Kukatpally (M)+(Part) Kukatpally (M) - Ward No. 1 to 4)

• INC

• TRS : Sudhakar Goud

• PRP : K Bhaskar Reddy

• BJP : Bheem Rao

• Loksatta : K Srinivas


53 Chevella (SC) (Population: 244310 Voters: 96291 + 92745 = 189121) – Polling Stations: Youth: 63% Minority: 28% (Muslims – 19.9%)
MLA – Sabita Indra Reddy
(Nawabpet + Shankarpalle + Moinabad + Chevella and Shabad Mandals)

• INC

• TDP : K S Ratnam

• PRP

• BJP

• Loksatta

54 Pargi (Population: 327149 Voters: 93644 + 96103 = 189807) – Polling Stations: Youth: 59% Minority: 24.7% (Muslims – 19.4%)
(Doma + Gandeed + Kulkacherla + Pargi and Pudur Mandals)

• INC : Rami Reddy / Rammohan Reddy

• TDP : Harishwar Reddy

• PRP

• BJP

• Loksatta

55 Vicarabad (SC) (Population: 260700 Voters: 90315 + 91146 = 181511) – Polling Stations: Youth: 65% Minority: 36.8% (Muslims – 27.7%)
(Marpalle + Mominpet + Vikarabad + Dharur and Bantwaram Mandals)

• INC : Prasad

• TRS : A Chandrashekhar

• PRP

• BJP

• MIM

• Loksatta

56 Tandur (Population: 270251 Voters: 87438 + 93358 = 180821) – Polling Stations: Youth: 61.5% Minority: 22.6% (Muslims – 22.1%)
(Peddemul + Tandur + Basheerabad and Yalal Mandals)

• INC : M Ramesh

• TDP : Mahender Reddy

• PRP

• BJP

• MIM

• Loksatta

40 Patencheru (Population: Voters: 124800 + 120402 = 245340 ) – Polling Stations: Youth: 61% Minority: 26.1% (Muslims – 18.3%)
(Jinnaram + Patencheru & Ramachandrapuram mandals)

• INC :

• TDP :

• TRS

• PRP

• BJP

• CPI / CPM

• MIM

• Loksatta


PARLIAMENTARY SEATS – HYD + RR Population: Voters: 6538840 Polling Stations:

7- MALKAJGIRI (Population: Voters: + = 21,15,947) – Polling Stations:
(43 Medchal + 44 Malkajgiri + 45 Qutbullapur + 46 Kukatpalle + 47 Uppal + 49 Lal Bahadur Nagar and 71 Secunderabad Cantt.)

• INC : V Hanumanth Rao

• TRS : Swami Goud

• PRP : T Devender Goud

• BJP : Indrasena Reddy

• MIM

• Loksatta

8- SECUNDERABAD (Population: Voters: + = 14,83,379) – Polling Stations:
MP – Anjan Kumar Yadav
(57 Musheerabad + 59 Amberpet + 60 Khairatabad + 61 Jubilee Hills + 62 Sanathnagar + 63 Nampally and 70 Secunderabad)

• INC : Anjan Kumar Yadav

• TDP : Vijayarama Rao

• PRP

• BJP : Bandaru Dattatreya

• MIM

• Loksatta

9- HYDERABAD (Population: Voters: + = 13,03,974) – Polling Stations:
MP – Asaduddin Owaisi
(58 Malakpet + 64 Karwan + 65 Goshamahal + 66 Charminar + 67 Chandrayangutta + 68 Yakutpura and 69 Bahadurpura)

• INC

• TDP : Zahed Ali Khan

• PRP

• BJP

• MIM : Asaduddin Owaisi

• Loksatta

10- CHEVELLA (Population: Voters: + = 16,35,540) – Polling Statiions:
(50 Maheswaram + 51 Rajendranagar +52 Serilingampally + 53 Chevella (SC)+ 54 Pargi + 55 Vicarabad (SC) and 56 Tandur)

• INC : Laxma Reddy

• TDP : Sunita Mahipal Reddy

• PRP

• BJP : Baddam Balreddy

• MIM

'Maha' bickering over Telangana seat sharing

By M H Ahssan

No Consensus Over 10 Seats In Telangana

The Grand Alliance’s seat-sharing talks remained contentious with all the four partners staking claim on at least 10 assembly seats in the Telangana region. As a result, sources indicated that the joint first list that is expected to be announced by the middle of March is likely to be delayed.

Sources point out that all the four parties, the TDP, TRS, CPM and CPI, are quoting statistics and history to back their case. For instance, Station Ghanpur in Warangal district is presently represented by TDP leader Kadiam Srihari who defeated TRS candidate G Vijayrama Rao in the byelections held last year.

The TRS is insisting that it be left to them while the TDP argues that this has always been its bastion except during the 2004 elections and that it was N Chandrababu Naidu’s party that had emerged triumphant in the last byelections.

CPI MP Suravaram Sudhakar Reddy claims that Bhongir and Suryapet assembly seats should be allocated to them. Bhongir is presently represented by Uma Madhav Reddy of the TDP. But the TRS and CPM are also demanding this seat. Again, Alair in Nalgonda, is another bone of contention between the TDP, TRS and Left partners. M Narsimhulu of the TDP had won this seat over four times but lost in 2004. He narrowly lost in the byelections held in May 2008. The TRS, which won the Alair seat, too wants it and so do the Left parties.

According to sources, the TDP is not averse to leaving Suryapet to the CPI. Similarly, all the four parties are claiming for themselves the Medchal and Parigi assembly seats in RR district which are currently held by the TDP.

The TRS is eyeing the Malkajgiri Lok Sabha seat and contemplating to field
party secretary-general Vijayshanti. But the TDP is also claiming the seat on the grounds that it has two MLAs in the v i c i n i t y, namely, T Srinivas Yadav from Secunderabad and G Sayanna from Secunderabad Cantonment.

Since Wednesday, leaders of the four alliance parties have been interacting through tele-conference to find a solution to the issue. The exercise is likely to be completed in the next one week, the sources claim.

Why I am constesting Lok Sabha Election?

I think that I speak for most of the people of India when I say, "I am just fed up with the politicians and the corruption." I think this is self explanatory and doesn’t need to be elaborated upon. We all saw the negative sentiment of the people against the politicians after the Mumbai terror attacks. We are living in a country where you can buy almost anything ranging from an election ticket, elected office to a religious post. We cannot organize a simple auction of flats without a scam or run a simple bus service without people getting killed. What more. You can even get away with murder. If you are not fed up then its time to wake up.

I will do something about it
We have all heard people say that “Something needs to be done” but nobody ends up doing anything. Even when somebody does something about it, it is at the individual level which becomes interesting to read or hear about but it does not address the root cause of the problem. Well, my first reason for becoming a candidate is that “I have decided to do something about it” in my own small way, that is, I have decided to be a candidate for the Lok Sabha elections in either 2009 or the next election in 2014. I may be a little late for 2009 elections but lets see how it goes.

Why do I want to contest for election?
“CITIZEN should be the King” but in reality he is a “beggar.” “CITIZEN is King” will become true only when the current group of politicians face competition or risk losing their elected office.

I believe that we, the people of India, need to take the following steps to make the government work for us. These steps are as follows:

(a) All the people who are eligible to vote, should vote.

(b) Honest people should contest elections to provide alternatives to people to vote for as well as provide competition to the current group of politicians.

(c) People who are eligible to vote should vote for people with a positive record.

All the above three steps need working on simultaneously otherwise we will not be able to achieve what we want to achieve, that is, making the Citizen of this country “king.” A number of people are working on the first step, that is, encouraging more and more people to register and vote. Tata Tea’s campaign and website Jagore.com is an excellent example. As mentioned earlier, it is absolutely necessary for everybody who is entitled to vote to vote but I am not sure that this alone will solve our problems.

Why? Simple. We will just continue to do what we have been doing in the past, that is, elect Congress for 1 / 2 terms and then elect BJP but with more and more votes. Similarly, in UP we elect Mayawati or Mulayam Singh Yadav with more and more votes. What good would it do? We will be voting for the same guys. Do you guys see any hope for our country in this scenario? Do you think we will get where we want to go with this system? I don't think so.

Every 4 or 8 years, we simply vote for either the Congress or the BJP. These parties know that for sometime they will rule and for sometime the opposition will rule. For the citizen, nothing really changes for the better. We just get what we mistakenly think is better of the two evils.

As mentioned earlier, we need to work on action 2 and 3 above. Currently, there is no competition for the politicians. As such, there is no incentive for the politicians to improve. All the noise that people made after the Mumbai terror attacks will have no significant effect on the way politicians act. For them, it will be business as usual. We need to stop shouting from outside because there is no one listening. We need to get inside to get a voice and to do something about our country aswell as our life as a citizen of this nation.

We have all experienced the power of competition in the business world. We all know that it is the competition which ultimately brings benefits to the customers in terms of improved quality and lower prices of products. It is the competition that makes customer a “King” by providing alternatives products. Competition also serves as a deterrent to businesses going slack.

Similarly, I believe that we also need to bring in competition in the field of “Country Management” which we today refer to as “Politics.” (To know more about the difference between Country Management and Politics, click here.) I believe that the first thing that we as Citizens of this country should do is provide competition to our elected officials. Only when competition comes in, that the current group of politicians will realize that they have to perform or perish. It is competition in “Country Management” (or politics) that will make the “citizen” and the “voter” the “King.” I have decided that I want to increase the competition in politics by providing the people an “Alternative” to vote for. I want to encourage other people to also contest elections and provide the alternative.

Lastly, we as voters have to think who we are voting for. Let us not vote for the same group of people who are corrupt again and again. Let us not vote for people who are corrupt and incompetent. Let us not vote for politicians who get your personal work done but do not change the system. Let us VOTE FOR people who will establish a system so that not only your work gets done but everybody’s work gets done without any hassles without any bribes or favours.

Imagine, if the people of this country completely replaced all the current politicians with new faces who are honest. Don’t you think we will be able to change the system? Don’t you think we will be able to reduce corruption? Don’t you think we will be able to organize a simple auction of flats without a scam? Don’t you think we will be able to close the BRT system in Delhi which doesn’t make sense as well as it is killing the common citizen? Don’t you think we can stop allotment of licenses for peanuts to companies like Unitech which has caused a loss of Rs. 40,000 crores to the people of this country? Don’t you think we will be able to improve all aspects of our life?

However, we all know that this is not going to happen immediately. Maybe it can. Nobody thought that an African American or a woman could become the president of USA but an African American Barak Obama did become the president and a woman came pretty close to becoming one. The power lies in YOU and ME to bring about a 180 degree change. The power lies in US to completely replace all the politicians who are corrupt and incompetent.

Whether we achieve our goal immediately or take a little time doing it, we have to make a start. But someone has to start the process. We have to start sometime. The sooner the better. That someone is YOU and I. The time to start is NOW and not later.

Stop shouting from outside. Get inside.
We, as the people of this country, can complain all we want and as loudly as we want but we will not get an appropriate response from the politicians. Why? Simply, because they know that after they are elected, we have no power to do anything. We are helpless. As such, we need to get the power by being elected. As a MP or MLA, we will acquire the authority and status to ask questions, to take action as well as to raise our voice for the benefit of the general public who own the country. As a MP or MLA, we will be heard. Government officials and newspapers will not ignore us.

AP ELECTIONS: A TALE OF TWO CITIES

By M H Ahssan

The geopolitical dynamics of Rayalaseema will test the clout of prominent personalities. So who will capture Tirupati? Who will lord over Kadapa?

The pilgrim town of three lakhs, Tirupati, is always brimming with devouts waiting for a darshan of the Lord on the hills in Tirumala, so much so that it is difficult to distinguish between a permanent resident and a temporary visitor. This being the case, it is well nigh impossible to pick up electoral trends in the rapidly growing town. But local analysts swear that Tirupati will vote for Chiranjeevi in the upcoming elections. Going by utterances of brother-in-law Allu Aravind, Tirupati - from where Prajarajyam (PR) was launched late last year - will be one of the two constituencies from which the mega star will contest.

“Chiranjeevi garu will certainly win from this constituency. People are looking for a change and will settle for him,” claims R Venkaiah, owner of Sindhuri Park hotel who also looks after Prajarajyam affairs in Tirupati. Analysts also feel that Chiranjeevi will make it though PR has serious party problems in Tirupati. “The party machinery is in disarray or rather there is no party organisation here. This means there is no machinery to convert support to votes,” says a political analyst.

Travelling on the road from Tirupati in a north westerly direction, you soon enter Kadapa, the home district of Rajasekhara Reddy. But you are still in Chiranjeevi territory. Large banners of a much younger Chiranjeevi dot the road from the town of Rajampet. “There are a lot of Balijas, the Rayalaseema version of Kapus, here. All of them will vote for Prajarajyam,” say local analysts. Rajampet, although in Kadapa district, is a separate Lok Sabha seat and the present incumbent is a Congressman.

It is only after you leave Rajampet and move towards Kadapa that you start feeling the influence of Rajasekhara Reddy and his son Jagan and by the time you enter the 4.5 lakh strong Kadapa town, this presence is overpowering. Festoons and large cut outs of Jagan dominate the half-modern, half-decrepit town that was once reputed to be second only in backwardness to Adilabad. “Jagan is likely to make his political debut for the Lok Sabha from here,” says a local analyst. The present incumbent is Jagan’s uncle and Rajasekhara Reddy’s younger brother Vivekananda Reddy but the local buzz is that the latter has been persuaded to vacate the seat for nephew dear.

Rajasekhara Reddy himself used to represent Kadapa town in Lok Sabha in the past and just as he did in Pulivendula, is pumping in huge moneys and resources to recreate Kadapa. “We have spent Rs 20 crore in the last two-anda-half years to improve the distribution system in the city,” says divisional engineer of electricity distribution N Srinivasulu. “Road expansions, widening and double laning of roads are in full swing all over Kadapa town and the entire district,” says R & B executive engineer Vivekananda Reddy. He adds: “Twenty bridges are being constructed across various rivers at a cost of Rs 66 crore.” In Kadapa city itself, seven bridges have been constructed over the dry Buggawanka river.

Other infrastructure is also being upgraded. A brand new zilla parishad conference hall has been constructed at the cost of Rs 8 crore. A branch of Hyderabad Public School is being opened and so is a Shilparamam like that in Hyderabad. A brand new Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences on a huge campus has started operating and an international cricket stadium named after Rajasekhara Reddy’s father Raja Reddy is being built. An IT park has also been planned in the vicinity of the town. “It is a good start but a lot more remains to be done,” says a local resident pointing out to the dirtier part of the city.

Yet all this has not deterred IT entrepreneur Srikant Reddy who is being fielded by TDP to challenge Jagan. Srikant lives in Hyderabad, but even his festoons dot Kadapa and his neighbourhood. More than that, Srikant’s father - former AP High Court chief justice Chenna Kesava Reddy - though still alive, has a life -size statue on a main road in town. “This is a Reddy dominated town and district. Here only a Reddy can take on a Reddy,” laments a local analyst.

The Reddys however do not comprise more than 15 per cent of the population of the Kadapa Lok Sabha seat; Balijas reputedly comprise 30 per cent, Muslims about 15 per cent and other backward castes and SCs around 45 per cent. “In Kadapa town, Muslims constitute around 35 per cent of the population,” says TDP corporator Subhan Pasha, hoping for an MLA seat.

“We want to rid the place of mafia,” says Srikant’s cousin Mallikarjun, but some Congress supporters say that the place was really controlled by mafia men some 20 years ago, not now. “In the 1980s there used to be kidnappings and the law and order situation was really bad. Now things are much better. With increasing economic opportunities even criminal elements have changed their priorities,” a local resident says. Others claim that Srikant is in the fray only because of personal reasons. They say that he was earlier very thick with Vivekananda Reddy, but has since fallen out, so his electoral fight is his own way of getting even with the enemy.

Does your MP value your vote?

By M H Ahssan

Does your MP attend Parliament? Does he/she ask questions in the House? Does he/she participate in debates? Between them, the answers to these questions should provide you the bare bones of how effectively your MP carries out core functions. Here’s what we found on examining the data.

Statistics show that nearly one-tenth of MPs in the 14th Lok Sabha have never participated in any debate, while the names of another one-third figure in less than 10 debates in data of the first 13 sessions.

Here, we are treating all discussions other than those under Rule 377 — which we consider separately in the accompanying piece — as debates. On average, a member of this LS has participated 24 times in debates held in the last four and half years. Ministers are excluded in these calculations.

Samajwadi Party’s Shailendra Kumar leads with 312 entries against his name, followed by Basudeb Barman, Ram Kripal Yadav, Bhartruhari Mahtab and Varkala Radhakrishnan.

With 60 participations per MP, Kerala leads the major states plus Delhi list. Delhi is second with 52 debates per member, while with 47 per head, Orissa MPs are the third most active lot. With less than 15 per MP, Assam, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Haryana are at the bottom of the list.

Among major parties, CPI emerges best with an average of 58 entries per MP. BJD at 55 and CPM at 41 are the next best. The NCP performed worst with an average of only 2 per MP. As for questions, 78 members did not ask a single question in the first 13 sessions. Another 167 asked fewer than 10 each.

Averaging at 453 questions per MP, Shiv Sena is at the top of the party list, BJD’s next with 291 just ahead of CPI with 290. Averaging 118, 104 and 34 respectively the BSP, CPM and Akalis make up the bottom three of the list.

Abu Ayes Mondal’s 97% attendance makes him top the attendance list for full-term MPs, while ailing former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee is at the bottom. The overall average attendance of the House for the first 14 sessions was 68.8%. Attendance need not mean actual presence in the House through the day. It only means the MP has come to the House and signed his presence. Thus, BJP averaged 90% in the first session, which the party had boycotted.

Has your MP kept the promise of demanding stoppage of a s uperfast train at your station? Has he raised the issue of improving the condition of sick sugar mills and reconstitution of local cooperatives? Has he drawn the House’s attention to the declining handloom industry in your area? You can hold your MP to account by accessing the data available on the Lok Sabha (LS) website, which unfortunately shows that nearly one-third of MPs never raise these issues.

The Parliament provides provision to raise matters of general public interest that can’t be raised during question hour, ‘calling attention’ motions and resolutions. Under Rule 377, LS members can raise matters that weren’t raised during the same session under any other rule, which can be local but primarily concerned with the central government.

For the first 13 sessions of the ongoing LS, there are 3,326 entries under Rule 377. Excluding ministers, the entries reduce to 3,200 against 348 members. That means 166 MPs never raised any issue under this rule. Apart from them, another 224 members have less than 10 entries under 377. Simply put, most have only occasionally used the provision. With 52 entries against his name, S K Kharventhan tops the list while Virjibhai Thummar, NSV Chitthan, Rajnarayan Budholiya and Karan Singh Yadav are the others who figured in ‘best five’ for raising issues under Rule 377.

Averaging at 15 entries per member, Himachal Pradesh and Uttaranchal top the list of major states, while MPs from Punjab and Haryana averaged just 3 entries per MP. Averaging 8 entries per member, the RJD, CPI and Congress are the three best parties here. The Akali Dal is the worst, as its average member has raised local issues only twice in the 13 sessions so far.

Every Lok Sabha member is entitled to receive Rs 2 crore annually, under the Member of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS). MPs can allocate the money for developmental needs of their constituencies. Data shows that only 6% of MPs have spent less than 80% of their fund.

All five figuring at the bottom of this list are from Bihar. Meira Kumar at 52% shows up worst, while Uday Singh, Rajesh Kumar Manjhi and Ranjeeta Ranjan failed to spend even 60% of the fund.

About 5 lakh Hyderabad voters may miss voting this time

By M H Ahssan

The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) cleared that over 4.6 lakh voters whose photographs were not made available to the corporation may not be able to vote in the coming elections.

Of the 30,04,998 voters in the 15 assembly constituencies falling within Hyderabad district, the photographs of 25,41,347 voters (about 84 per cent) were taken by the corporation staff in various phases. “It will not be possible for the GHMC to issue before the elections electoral photo identity cards (EPICs) to the 4.6 lakh voters whose photographs were not taken,” GHMC additional commissioner (elections) Neetu Prasad told TOI.

The number of voters was decided as per the final publication of the electoral rolls on January 22, 2009. According to officials, 1.96 lakh voters got registered during the revision of the electoral rolls. “Of these, 1.2 lakh EPICs are ready and will be dispatched to the voters. The I-D cards of the remaining 70,000 voters will also be made ready in the next few weeks. However, the 4.6 lakh voters will have to sit out this elections,” the officials said.

The corporation also has a backlog of EPICs to be delivered to the voters. “At least five lakh EPICs are lying in the municipal circle offices and designated photographic location (DPL) centres. While some were distributed in the Musheerabad, Secunderabad and Khairatabad constituencies before the byelections last year, the bulk of them remains to be distributed, the officials said.

In some localities, though many voters got their EPICs, fresh ones have to be issued as the constituency changed in many instances due to the delimitation exercise.

For example, many voters in Jubilee Hills were earlier voting in the Khairatabad assembly but will now fall under the newly-created Jubilee Hills assembly constituency.