Tamil leaders in great demand for election campaign in Telangana

With a keen contest in the offing for the 11 Lok Sabha seats in Telangana, every political party is actively wooing an estimated nine lakh Tamil voters domiciled in the state.

The ruling Congress, the main opposition Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) know that Tamil votes will play a critical role in Malkajigiri, Hyderabad and Secunderabad constituencies.

Originally hailing from Tamil Nadu, the Tamils are employed in the railways and army as well as in the IT sector, pharma industry as well as a variety of businesses in Telangana. They are said to live in large numbers in Alwal, West Venkatapuram, Thirumalagiri, Yapral, ASH Raonagar, Kukatpally, Boinapalli, Balanagar, Chintal, Uppal, Cantonment, Malkajigiri, Gachibowli, Madapur, Secunderabad, Kachiguda, West Maredupalli and Ramnagar areas.

Sizeable voters

No wonder, Tamils are being sought out by every candidate, particularly in the three Lok Sabha constituencies where they are said to form a 20 per cent bloc.

Leaders and candidates are promising to resolve the problems the community has in Telangana. Tamils say the earlier governments gave land and funds to build community buildings to those from other states living in Hyderabad but no such facility was provided to the Tamils.

Also, many want Tamil language to be taught in schools so that their children do not forget their mother tongue.

Telangana Tamil Association secretary Raj Kumar Shivaji told The Federal Telangana that two acres of land and funds should be given for the construction of a Tamil Bhavan in Hyderabad. The Association president, MK Bose, said that Tamils from Kanyakumari and Madurai regions want the Charminar Express train extended all the way to Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu’s southern tip.

Tamilisai on campaign trail

Bose complained that this had not been done despite petitions made earlier to the Union government as well as Tamilisai Soundararajan, Telangana’s former Governor. The Telangana Tamil community also wants to meet new Chief Minister Revanth Reddy.

The BJP has roped in Tamilsai for the election campaign. She reached Hyderabad on Monday with BJP workers from Tamil Nadu. She will be a star campaigner in Secunderabad.

Secunderabad, now represented by Union minister Kishan Reddy, has a large number of Tamil voters.

Congress, BRS plans

Congress leaders plan to bring Congress leaders from Tamil Nadu to help in the election campaign. The BRS, led by former Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao or KCR, is also doing its best to attract Tamil voters.

Just how the Tamils get swayed will be known when the election results are declared on June 4.

(This article was originally published in The Federal Telangana)