: The present day Secunderabad Cantonment is a far cry from the Cantonment of yore when life went on at a languid pace and the infrastructure was more than enough for the populace. Fast forward to 2014, and there is disgruntlement everywhere. Drains are overflowing, water pipelines are leaking, roads are in disarray, encroachments galore and the perennial water shortage problem.
How did the situation of Cantonment come to this? Where it all went wrong?
“The infrastructure that was built in early 1960s has remained the same. The layouts, drains, pipelines, roads, electricity infrastructure and everything else was designed for the 60s and 70s and not for 2014. Nobody bothered to upgrade infrastructure while the population was increasing and now it is almost six times. This is what went wrong,” is the refrain of the long time residents.
These are the challenges and questions that the candidates from various political parties will face while they campaign in this Assembly segment. Old timers also point out that elections here will be purely fought on the basis of local issues, mostly civic ones, which have been haunting them for long.
Elections were first held in the Cantonment in 1957 and Congress and TDP have dominated the constituency in the last few decades. In fact, TDP candidate G. Sayanna was the hat-trick hero till he lost to P. Sankar Rao of Congress in 2009. This time around, however, the voters here have many option to choose, including Gajjella Kantham of Congress, G. Nageswar Rao from TRS, P. Venkat Rao from YSRC and Jayaraju Madari from Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
On their part, the candidates are raising the right issues to attract voters. “Congress and TDP leaders never bothered to address these issues although both have won 10 times. I will address the vexing issues of water shortage, encroachments, building regularisation scheme, drainage system, houses and pattas for the poor,” says TRS candidate, G. Nageswar Rao.
Many also point towards the inordinate delay in taking up developmental works in Cantonment due to the consent needed from the Army. “Cantonment CEO and other officials are not answerable to elected representatives. This has to change if we want to get some work done. We are running a transparent campaign and fighting for genuine issues like drainage, water supply and encroachments,” says AAP candidate, Jayaraju Madari.
While former TDP MLA G. Sayanna exudes the confidence that voters will reward him for his track record and familiarity, Gajella Kantham of Congress feels it won’t be that easy. “We have decided to hit the road and reach out to as many voters as possible to assure them that all their genuine issues will be addressed. Drainage, water shortage, bad roads, unemployment, encroachments ail SCB,” he says.
