Who will Old City Hindu voters choose?

By M H Ahssan

The Hyderabad Lok Sabha constituency is witnessing a battle for the sizable Muslim vote, estimated at about 70 per cent of the 13.3 lakh voter strength. But who would the Hindu voter - accounting for the remaining 30 per cent - exercise his franchise for? While “educated Hindus” say they would go for Mahakutami’s Zahid Ali Khan, who promises to ring in an era of change, there are others who point out that they would have voted for Khan had BJP not fielded a candidate here.

While political observers note that BJP’s Satish Agarwal is an obvious weak candidate compared to his contenders, Asaduddin Owaisi and Zahid Ali Khan, they note that Agarwal might just eat into some crucial Hindu votes, estimated at around 4 lakh. Despite Agarwal being a “complete stranger,” political observers note that he could turn out to be Zahid Ali Khan’s killjoy.

Given the sizable number of Agarwals settled in the Hyderabad parliamentary constituency, the BJP candidate might stake claim on at least 10 per cent of the votes. “There are quite a few north Indians settled in areas such as Charminar and Begum Bazar; we are expecting them to vote for Agarwal,” said a senior BJP leader hoping that the party would be able to cash in on the support of the Agarwal community in favour of their fellow community members.

Some political analysts wonder if Agarwal’s candidature is a result of a tacit, unspoken understanding between BJP and MIM to eat into Khan’s votes, who would have otherwise enjoyed the support of a chunk of Hindu voters. They are of the opinion that Khan would have garnered more votes had he contested the election as an independent.

Nevertheless, many Hindu votes seem to be swinging firmly in favour of Zahid Ali Khan. “I would vote for Zahid Ali Khan and that would be the choice of most educated people, Hindu or Muslim,” says industrialist Anil Kedia, a voter from this constituency. He says that BJP too should have supported Zahid Khan instead of fielding its own candidate, in order to consolidate the Hindu vote.

Agreeing with Kedia, Vijay Rao Jadhav, residing in the Charminar area of the constituency says that he would vote for Khan “only to end MIM’s reign over the area” as the party has done almost nothing during its term. He says, “In this constituency malpractices start right from the polling booths. I have lived here for decades and every year I see several voters return without casting their votes, because someone else has already voted on their names. Yet, nothing has been done about it so far.”

“The TDP angle would (adversely) affect him,” said one voter here. But some residents such as Puneetha Pushyaragam of Dilsukhnagar point out that if her vote goes to Khan that’s largely because he is a TDP-supported candidate. “Urban voters like me want Naidu back because in the decade during which he was the CM, things looked up. Now, having learnt from his past experience, he will strike a balance between rural and urban development,’’ she said. Like Puneetha, several others also feel that Khan is the “ideal” candidate as he carries a “clean image” .

Nevertheless, many voters observe that people appeared supportive of the MIM during its campaign more out of fear and may not openly favour Zahid Ali Khan. “But when they go to vote, they will vote against the MIM,” an Old City resident said, adding that this was the prevailing mood in most of the areas in this constituency.