JOIN US In 2009, Zahid Ali Khan, editor of Urdu daily “Siasat”, a candidate supported by an alliance of four political parties got 1,94,196 votes against Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) Chief Asaduddin Owaisi, who retained the Hyderabad Lok Sabha seat.
Owaisi got 3,08,061 votes while the Congress and the BJP candidates garnered 93,917 and 75,503 votes, respectively. It was a cakewalk for the MIM as it won six of the seven Assembly seats it contested in the city. It lost the Rajendranagar seat in Ranga Reddy district.
Now, MIM is set to repeat its performance this time, too, since there are no formidable opponents. While Zahid Ali Khan has decided not to contest, other parties, including the major ones, does not seem to worry. The Lok Sabha segment was represented by Late Sultan Salahuddin Owaisi, father of Asaduddin, for a record six terms. The “Salar” wrested it from K Prabhakar Reddy of TDP in 1984 and went on to retain it in 1989, 1991, 1996, 1998 and 1999. He trounced BJP’s Baddam Bal Reddy thrice and M Venkaiah Naidu once.
In 2004, following Salar’s ill health, Asaduddin won the seat and won it again in 2009. In 2009, Hyderabad became an all urban constituency following the delimitation exercise. Now, there are 16 lakh and odd voters here, 65 per cent of whom are minorities.
However, the last term of Owaisi has been plagued by delayed projects, unkept promises. “Asad is no doubt a hardworking MP. But works sanctioned under Member of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme have seen inordinate delays and poor execution, forcing people in several areas to grapple with lack of water supply and damaged roads,” locals of Ahmed Nagar said.
People in the Assembly segments of Malakpet, Karwan, Goshamahal, Charminar, Chandrayangutta, Yakutpura and Bahadurpura, where works are reportedly ongoing, point out the extremely poor implementation of projects pertaining to water, drains and roads. Only 18 of the 130 works sanctioned by the Hyderabad MP’s funds have been completed.
“We have no water supply for weeks and forced to buy water,” says Mohseena Bee of Karwan. Some areas like Noori Nagar and Ghouse Nagar, which lie in the GHMC periphery, have witnessed development very recently. Even in the heart of Hyderabad parliamentary constituency, works have been delayed.
People of old city are not happy about incomplete pipeline work and sewerage work, but not to the level where they would defeat their leader. Locals say that even though Owaisi is more accessible than most other leaders, the delay in works calls for better supervision of the executing agencies by their representative.
Asaduddin Owaisi filed his nomination for the Hyderabad Parliament seat without much fanfare on April 3. Later, speaking to reporters, he expressed confidence that he would emerge victorious. The Majlis had succeeded in developing the city to some extent, but a lot has remained to be done.