The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Majlis groups put family honour on line

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Apr 14, 2004

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Majlis groups put family honour on line

By J.S. Ifthekhar

HYDERABAD, APRIL 13. Neither the Majlis nor the MBT is taking the coming elections in the Chandrayangutta Assembly constituency for granted. The bitter foes are leaving no stone unturned to endear themselves to voters. What is at stake is not just a seat, but family prestige. For Akbaruddin Owaisi, who is running for a second term from here, it is a fight to the finish. "After the polls there will be no MBT," he asserts.

The MBT is not taking things lying down. Khayam Khan, the eldest son of late Amanullah Khan, is bent on redeeming the family honour. It is time to take sweet revenge for the humiliating defeat inflicted on his father during the 1999 elections by the Majlis.

Thus a spirited contest is on the cards in Chandrayangutta. The enormous clout of the Owaisis vs the Amanullah factor. Though the Majlis has the upper hand here, Mr. Akbaruddin is not at all complacent.

He is sweating it out in the campaign, covering the length and breadth of the constituency. Dr. Khan is relying on the "good work" of his father who represented this constituency for a record 22 years. After falling out with his mentor, Salahuddin Owaisi, he floated the MBT and managed to wrest the Yakutpura and Chandrayangutta seats in the 1994 elections.

But in the next polls, the young Akbaruddin turned the tables and humbled the late Khan in his own den.

The elections now provide an opportunity to the MBT to settle scores. Though Chandrayangutta is witnessing a multi-cornered contest with 10 candidates in the fray, the real fight is between the two Majlis groups.

The other contestants here are: G.S. Seeta Rama Raju (Congress), K. Swarajya Lakshmi (TDP), Anil Kumar Srivastav (Akhila Bharatiya Janasangh), Taher Kamal Khundmiri (TRS), Mohd. Kaleem Siddiqi (Telangana Jana Samithi), C. Vijayender Rao (Janata Party), Y. Jayanand Goud and B. Bheemesh (Independents).

Apart from solution of the usual civic problems, people here have been clamouring for road overbridges at the Kandikalgate and Huppuguda railway stations. Traffic jam is a regular feature at the level-crossings here. But no party has bothered to address this problem.

While the MBT is busy trying to rake up old issues to show its rival in poor light, Mr. Akbaruddin has been winning over the electorate through disbursement of widow pensions and sewing machines to the poor and needy.

He has also come up with a school building at Nasheman Nagar to provide free education to his poor constituents.

The contest here promises to provide an absorbing fare.

chandrayanagutta

Assembly Seat

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