The upcoming Jubilee Hills by-election, likely to be held in the next two to three months, poses a challenge to the political career of three major political figures of Telangana. This election will be an acid test to the political fortunes of Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, BRS Executive President KT Rama Rao and BJP state president N Ramachandra Rao.
It will be a challenging task for KTR to retain this seat so as to send a clear message to the people of Telangana that his party is not out after consecutive defeats in both Assembly and later Lok Sabha elections.
Moreover, as practically the Congress party was washed away in Greater Hyderabad in these elections and Chief Minister Revanth Reddy’s `credibility’ with the party high-command is at lowest level, retention of this seat will certainly enthuse BRS cadre and also helps to indicate they are ready to return back.
A victory in Jubilee Hills would reassert KTR’s political relevance also. KTR leveraged his reputation as a transformative leader during his tenure as minister for Municipal Administration, IT, and Industries under the BRS regime. Many credit Hyderabad’s infrastructure development and IT boom to his initiatives, which, among others, were instrumental in the party’s past electoral successes.
BRS leaders are also confident of sympathy factor, given that the by-election was necessitated by the demise of their party’s sitting legislator Gopinath Maganti, who had won consecutive terms from here. It is proposing to field a candidate from Gopinath’s family.
Meanwhile, the ruling Congress, which drew a blank in both GHMC and Assembly elections, is eager to capture Jubilee Hills to make a foot-hold in the city. Though Congress is suffering intense factionalism, absence of a credible leadership in the city, is mostly weighing behind Chief Minister Revanth Reddy’s manipulative and resourceful skills.
As the party managed to wrest the Secunderabad Cantonment seat from the BRS, is now wants to replicate that success, at all costs, so as to send a signal to the party’s high-command that only Revanth Reddy can save the party in Telangana. To bolster its campaign, the Congress has already fielded three ministers to oversee the constituency.
Though BJP’s clout in this constituency is not impressive, as the party’s new state president N Ramchander Rao to face his first litmus test here, it turns out to be prestigious, at a time the party is raring to capture power in the next Assembly elections.
BJP is banking upon possible support from TDP and Jana Sena ranks, who are having considerable clouds here. As Jubilee Hills is part of Secunderabad Lok Sabha constituency, the sitting MP and Union minister G Kishan Reddy is also facing the heat as any reversal in the election might reflect on his performance.