Hyderabad: The upcoming Jubilee Hills by-election is shaping up to be a fierce contest, with women candidates emerging as strong contenders against seasoned male politicians from both Congress and BJP.While the BRS has already fielded Maganti Sunitha, widow of former MLA Maganti Gopinath, at least five women from the BJP and three from Congress are vying for the coveted ticket, signalling a possible twist in the slum voter- dominated constituency. Despite the surge of female aspirants, men remain firmly in the race. BJP’s Lankala Deepak Reddy and Congress leaders, including former MP Anjan Kumar Yadav, former mayor Bonthu Rammohan, Naveen Yadav, MLA Danam Nagender, and CN Reddy are all in contention, ensuring that an all-women contest is far from certain. Within Congress circles, discussions suggest a tilt towards selecting a candidate from the BC community, though no name has been finalised. Chief minister A Revanth Reddy recently directed TPCC president B Mahesh Kumar Goud and three in-charge ministers to shortlist three frontrunners based on survey results predicting winning prospects. The constituency’s demographics are crucial: Of nearly four lakh voters, approximately 1.50 lakh belong to the BC community and 1.40 lakh to minority communities. The electorate includes 2.07 lakh male and 1.91 lakh female voters, making gender representation a key consideration in party strategies. Women aspirants in Congress, including Sridevi Yadav (corporator and wife of Rammohan), Kanjerla Vijayalakshmi Yadav (daughter-in-law of former minister K Lakshminarayana Yadav), and mahila Congress state president Sunitha Rao Mudiraj—all from the BC community—are hoping that AICC Telangana in-charge Meenakshi Natarajan’s visit on Saturday will favour female candidates in line with Rahul Gandhi’s ‘nari nyay’ slogan. In the BJP camp, Akula Vijaya reportedly enjoys support from Medak MP M Raghunandan Rao and MRPS founder Manda Krishna Madiga. Other contenders under discussion include Keerthi Reddy, Veerapaneni Padma, Bandaru Vijayalakshmi, and potentially Nandamuri Suhasini, granddaughter of former CM NT Rama Rao, aimed at consolidating votes from Andhra-origin population.
