Hyderabad: Minorities, backward classes and Scheduled Caste voters, who constitute a substantial section of the electorate in the Khairatabad assembly constituency, could play a decisive role in the by-election to the seat.A majority of Muslim and Christian voters, along with BC and SC voters, have supported the BRS in the past two elections. The situation was similar in the Jubilee Hills assembly constituency, but the dynamics of a by-election, compared with a general election, changed the odds in favour of the ruling party.Political analysts said the three major parties — Congress, BRS and BJP — are likely to go all out to woo voters from Muslim, BC, SC, ST and OC communities. However, support from Muslim, BC and SC voters could have a significant bearing on the electoral prospects of the candidates.SIR deletions redraw voter equationsBefore the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls began, there were more than 75,000 Muslim, 85,000 BC and 65,000 SC voters, among others, in the Khairatabad constituency.However, the caste equations changed considerably after the publication of the draft electoral rolls as part of the SIR. Of the constituency’s total electorate of 2.93 lakh, the draft rolls brought down the number of voters to over 1.7 lakh, with 1.23 lakh names deleted.“There has been a 40% deletion of voter names. These deletions have been carried out across all communities, including Muslims, SCs, STs, BCs and OCs. Notices have been issued to another 81,000 voters, and one has to wait and see how many of them make it to the final list, which is expected to be published in Nov. Despite such a large number of deletions, Muslims, SCs and BCs will remain the key groups in determining the electoral outcome,” said a political observer.Among the SCs, voters from the Madiga community outnumber those from the Mala community. Similarly, among the STs, Lambadas outnumber Yerukalas in the constituency.Among the BCs, Padmashalis constitute the largest group of voters in Khairatabad, followed by Mudiraj, Kuruba, Goud, Vaddera, Munnurukapu, Yadava and Gangaputra communities.Given the sizeable Muslim electorate, the role of the AIMIM is also expected to be significant. In the 2023 assembly election, the AIMIM supported the BRS. The Asaduddin Owaisi-led party, however, is now maintaining friendly relations with the Congress.
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