Hyderabad: BJP candidate and former Union minister Bandaru Dattatreya is giving a tough fight to Congress candidate from Secunderabad and two-time MP Anjan Kumar Yadav.
While the anti-incumbency factor at the Centre and the state worries the Congress nominee, the Modi wave and TD alliance with the BJP are to Mr Dattatreya’s advantage.
Meanwhile, the MIM is contesting for the first time in recent times in Secunderabad Lok Sabha seat and former IAS officer Chayaratan is contesting from the Aam Aadmi Party.
The main fight in Secunderabad, however, will be between the Congress and the TD-BJP alliance.
In 2004 general elections, Congress candidate Mr Anjan Kumar Yadav had defeated the BJP candidate with a margin of 68,758 votes, in 2009, he had again defeated Mr Dattatreya with a margin of 1,70,167 votes.
However, it will be a different fight this time with MIM entering the fray.
Former minister M. Mukesh Goud had tried for the Secunderabad Lok Sabha ticket for his son Vikram Goud, but failed. Differences between Mr Anjan and Mr Mukesh will also have some impact on the result of the Secunderabad Lok Sabha seat.
BJP Telangana state president G. Kishan Reddy had also tried for the Secunderabad LS seat, but the party leadership opted for Mr Dattatreya. Initially there were differences between Mr Dattatreya and Mr Kishan Reddy, but they later reconciled.
In the Secunderabad Lok Sabha constituency, there are around 4 lakh Muslim voters who had voted for the Congress last time. They had primarily voted against the BJP and for the Congress’ welfare programmes taken up by YSR and also for the 4 per cent reservations for Muslims.
This time the MIM has fielded Nalla Mohan Rao as its candidate and Muslim voters may prefer to vote for him rather than the Congress candidate.
The voters of Secunderabad are also not happy with Mr Anjan Kumar Yadav as he did not undertake any developmental activities in last 10 years. MIM. It is apprehended, voters’ dissatisfaction and the anti-incumbency factor will affect Mr Kumar's prospects. Mr Anjan and Mr Dattatreya both belong to the BC community.
