The saffron party lags behind in campaign so far, but eyes straight fight with Cong

■ BJP yet to finalise its candidate; Kishan Reddy  alone has hit the ground so far.

■ BJP confident vote polarisation could relegate BRS to third place, making it a Congress-BJP fight

Congress and BRS already deep into campaign mode; BRS fields Maganti Gopinath’s wife.

Metro India News | Hyderabad 

With the election schedule for Jubilee Hills Assembly constituency is expected in a few weeks, Congress and BRS have already gone into aggressive campaign mode. The BJP, however, is still waiting for its formal push, even as its state chief Ramchander Rao exudes confidence that the party will eventually emerge as a serious contender, possibly reducing the battle to a direct fight with Congress.

So far, Union Minister G. Kishan Reddy—who represents the Secunderabad Lok Sabha constituency under which Jubilee Hills falls—has been the only prominent BJP face on the ground, making weekend visits despite his busy national commitments. Party insiders say the delay in naming a candidate is the reason for the slow start. “The aspirants cannot go full throttle without the party signal. Spending resources without ticket assurance could mean wasted efforts,” a senior leader admitted.

Names such as Deepak Reddy, Keerthi Reddy, and Padma are doing the rounds, but the final call rests with the BJP’s central leadership. Deepak Reddy brings the advantage of past electoral experience in the segment, while the others are relatively new to electoral politics. Party leaders acknowledge that unless a known or heavyweight leader is brought in, the BJP may face a disadvantage if Congress fields a familiar face. The BRS, for its part, has already confirmed the candidature of late MLA Maganti Gopinath’s wife, with the family and party leaders including KTR spearheading door-to-door campaigns.

Congress had initially relied on former cricketer and now MLC Azharuddin to drum up support in Jubilee Hills. With him out of the race after being elevated, ministers Ponnam Prabhakar and Tummala Nageshwara Rao have stepped up, focusing on outreach with residential associations. Beyond the candidates, community dynamics are expected to play a decisive role. Jubilee Hills has over one lakh Muslim voters, who in 2018 rallied behind the BRS candidate.