The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Water constitutes their main concern

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Jul 23, 2006

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Water constitutes their main concern

Dennis Marcus Mathew

Plagued by many problems, people of the area in Cantonment are excited about election, being held after nine years

HYDERABAD: If over hundred women set aside their household chores and take to the streets, agitating for just one borewell, matters are certainly not fine in their area. In this case, that happens to be Ward II of the Secunderabad Cantonment.

Water shortage in this area is so acute that, as demonstrated by the Indiramma Nagar slum-dwellers earlier this week, official action merely to stop work on a borewell can trigger violent reactions. Though officials say work was stopped in view of the election code, residents disagree. For them, it is water that matters.

Ward II, comprising Rasoolpura, Tadbund, Chinna Thokatta and parts of Sikh Village, is also plagued by bad roads and absence of drainage systems, which however are ubiquitous in the Cantonment.

Hope of representation

When the word `election' is uttered here, it is not just the political jamboree that stirs up the residents. It is the prospect of voting after nine years for someone who hopefully would fight for them. In that sense, citizens of Ward II, the biggest in the 40-sqkm-J-shaped Cantonment, have lavish choices.

Twenty-four names, 12 of them with political affiliations. And the affiliations spell names of almost every party, starting with Congress, Telugu Desam, Bharatiya Janata Party, Communist Party of India (Marxist), Telangana Rashtra Samiti, Bharatiya Samajwadi Party and even All-India Majlis-Ittehadul-Muslimeen.

Father-son duo

If other wards have copious sprinklings of Congress overtones on their candidate lists, Ward II has the TDP assuming a similar role with four contenders. Of these, what could have made an interesting duel has however fizzled out with a father-son duo not intent on contesting.

Both Jakkula Narasimha Reddy and his son J. Purna Chander Reddy, the former an erstwhile SCB member, figure on the candidate list. Nominations were submitted when they were not given party ticket, but could not be withdrawn because by the time a compromise shaped up, it was too late. "So we decided not to campaign," Mr. Reddy clarifies.

Telugu Desam Party's other campaigners are T.N. Sreedhar, the official candidate and B. Mallikarjun, who quips "nothing official about it". Congress has two-and-half, literally. While the affiliations of S. Keshava Reddy and K. Padma Reddy to Congress are known, that of Rizwan Hussain is behind the scenes.

The CPI (M) has Ch. Srinivas while TRS has K. Thirupathi Reddy. Ravikumar stands for BSP while Ahmed Khan Anjum is from AIMIM. B. Laxman is the one speaking in BJP's saffron tones.

Voters: 42,107 after revision

Earlier: 38,720

Polling stations: 47

Candidates: 24

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