HYDERABAD: The BJP is keen on winning the Hyderabad Parliamentary seat but does not appear to be paying much attention to Malakpet, Karwan, Goshamahal, Charminar, Chandrayanagutta, Yakutpura and Bahadurpura Assembly seats which form part of the Lok Sabha constituency While BJP president Amit Shah has drawn up a strategy to win the Assembly and parliamentary seat in Hyderabad, the state leadership is still unsure of whether it will be able to put up a formidable candidate.
There are several leaders who improved the party’s share in these constituencies. BJP veteran Baddam Bal Reddy built a dependable vote bank starting in 1962 in the days of the party’s predecessor Jan Sangh. His name and that of ‘Tiger’ Ale Narendra are synonymous with the BJP in the Old City.
Mr Baddam Bal Reddy said that the party was on a strong wicket to win the Hyderabad seat. “Its vote bank is intact and the young generation is attracted by the development plank of Prime Minster Narendra Modi,” he said.
The BJP veteran said the traditional vote bank in the seven Assembly seats was scattered after the delimitation of seats in 2008. He held then Chief Minister Dr Y.S. Rajashekhar Reddy responsible for this, as he wanted to appease the MIM and and clubbed colonies and wards helpful to that party in these seats. In 1962, Jan Sangh, the BJP’s predecessor, polled 3.9 per cent votes in the Hyderabad Lok Sabha seat. In 1980. Narendra contested as a Janata Party candidate and secured 1,35,304 votes. The BJP left the seat to the TD in 1984 and 1989.
