The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Secunderabad electorate rejects `feel good' factor

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, May 14, 2004

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Secunderabad electorate rejects `feel good' factor

By Our Staff Reporter

The BJP's Secunderabad Parliamentary constituency candidate, Bandaru Dattatreya, in a pensive mood following his defeat in the polls. Photo: P. V. Sivakumar

HYDERABAD, MAY 13. In a clear rejection of the much publicised `feel good' factor of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the predominantly urban electorate of Secunderabad Lok Sabha constituency handed out a worst drubbing to the party candidate and Union Minister, Bandaru Dattatreya.

Anjan Kumar Yadav of the Congress, who reluctantly entered the fray in what was considered a BJP stronghold, emerged a giant killer defeating Mr.Dattatreya by a margin of 73,215 votes. Mr.Yadav was the last minute choice after the party nominee, D.Nagender, shifted his allegiance to the Telugu Desam Party (TDP).

However, what came as a complete surprise was the huge cross-voting for the Parliament seat when compared with seven Assembly segments that went to the polls simultaneously. Mr.Dattatreya, who in his capacity as Union Minister, claimed to have brought development to the constituency, was confident of his personal image seeing him through in the election.

However, all those calculations went awry, except in Himayathnagar, where he could not garner a lead in any other Assembly segment. Even voters who went with the TDP-BJP candidates for the Assembly chose not to send Mr.Dattatreya to the Lok Sabha.

This gets obvious from his polling 7,782 votes less than what the TDP-BJP Assembly candidate got in Asifnagar, 3,830 votes less in Khairatabad and 3,701 less in Himayathnagar. At the same time, Mr.Yadav polled 23,963 votes more than what the Congress-TRS alliance candidate scored in Himayathnagar and 12,622 more in Asifnagar.

Mr.Yadav, whose campaign lacked the lustre of his opponent's, got a faint scent of victory when the Assembly results were declared two days ago. The Congress-TRS combine walked away with five of the seven seats and in the process rejecting powerful ministers like K.Vijayarama Rao and T.Srinivas Yadav.

Since then, the Yadav camp had been brimming with anticipation. All through the counting on Thursday, the Congress city chief maintained a lead. Celebrations broke out across the constituency as party workers distributed sweets and sprinkled `gulal' on each other. It was time for some `bhangra' also and the bearded victor did not mind joining the boisterous dancing.

In the BJP camp, the shadow of gloom kept lengthening as the counting progressed and leads from different segments emerged. If the news of the defeat cut them badly, the high margin of 73,215 votes surely rubbed in the salt.

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